oTmJ^f^^ 


m5^  S6  1916 

Snowden,  James  Henry,  ^^^'^ 
PsYchology  of  religion  and  its  appkcato 
preaching  and  leaclimg, 


^     I 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY   OF  RELIGION 


BY  THE  SAME  AUTHOR 

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THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF 

RELIGION 

AND   ITS   APPLICATION   IN   PREACHING. 
AND   TEACHING 


JAMES  H.  SNOWDEN,  D.D.,  LL.D. 

Professor  of  Systematic  Theology  in  theWestem  Theological  Seminary,  Pittsburgh,Pa. 

Author  of  '■  The  World  a  Spiritual  System  :  an  Introduction  to  Metaphysics, ^H 

"  The  Basal  Beliefs  of  Christianity, "  "  Scenes  and  Sayings 

in  the  Life  of  Christ,'"  etc. 


New  York  Ciiicaoo  Toronto 

Fleming  H.  Revell  Company 

LOKDON  AND  EDINBURGH 


Copyright,  1916,  by 
FLEMING  H.  REVELL  COMPANY 


New  York:  158  Fifth  Avenue 
Chicago:  17  N.  Wabash  Ave. 
Toronto:  25  Richmond  St.,  W.. 
London :  21  Paternoster  Square 
Edinburgh:    100    Princes    Street 


SAMUEL  BLACK  McCORMICK,  D.D.,  LL.D., 

Chancellor  of  the  University  of  Pittsburgh, 

This  Volume 
Is  Respectfully  Dedicated 


PREFACE 

PSYCHOLOGY  may  approach  the  study  of  re- 
ligion along  either  of  two  lines.  It  may  come  as 
a  pure  science  to  study  religion  in  its  cold  white 
light,  without  religious  presuppositions.  It  will  then 
scrutinize  the  nature  of  religion  and  endeavour  to  dis- 
cern its  facts  and  deduce  its  laws.  Such  purely  scien- 
tific and  critical  psychology  of  religion  has  a  work  to 
do,  and  it  must  be  permitted  to  have  a  full  and  free 
right  of  way  in  its  processes  and  conclusions.  Much  of 
this  kind  of  work  has  been  done,  and  it  has  its  value. 
However,  the  scientific  psychologist  cannot,  any  more 
than  any  other  thinker,  wholly  strip  himself  of  pre- 
suppositions, but  consciously  or  latently  has  in  his 
mind  some  religious  or  philosophical  system  or  assump- 
tions which  inevitably  shape  and  colour  his  study  of 
religion. 

The  other  line  of  approach  to  this  subject  is  that 
which  is  based  on  views  of  religion  which  are  accepted 
by  the  psychologist  as  already  established  on  their 
own  grounds.  He  then  comes  to  religion  to  clarify  it 
of  error  and  to  confirm  and  illuminate  it,  as  other 
psychologists  approach  the  study  of  education  or  busi- 
ness as  established  fields  of  human  activity  and  pro- 
ceed to  illuminate  them  with  the  light  of  their  science. 

The  present  volume  follows  the  second  of  these  two 
lines  of  approach.  It  takes  up  the  study  of  religion 
on  the  accepted  basis  of  ])hilosnplii('al  theism  and 
Christian  faith,  and  its  object  is  to  throw  the  light  of 

7 


8  PREFACE 

psychological  elucidation  on  such  faith  and  life.  It  is 
therefore  of  the  nature  of  an  exposition  rather  than  of 
^  a  critical  investigation.  But  such  application  of  psy- 
chology is  as  legitimate  as  its  similar  application  to 
other  fields  of  life. 

In  order  to  make  the  book  available  for  readers  that 
have  not  formally  studied  psychology,  it  opens  with 
an  elementary  chapter  in  which  the  faculties  and 
activities  of  the  soul  are  sketched  as  a  background 
or  introduction  to  the  special  field  of  the  psychology 
of  religion.  The  applications  of  the  subject  to  preach- 
ing and  teaching  are  necessarily  limited  to  a  few  prin- 
cipal points,  but  these  are  suggestive  of  the  practical 
usefulness  of  this  study.  It  is  hoped  that  the  volume 
will  be  found  helpful  by  ministers  and  Sunday-school 
teachers  and  general  readers  in  enabling  them  to 
understand  better  the  religious  life  and  to  be  more 
efficient  in  Christian  service. 

J.  H.  S. 
Pittsburgh,  Pa. 


CONTENTS 


I.   Introduction i.      17 

(1)  Psychology  a  late  science. 

(2)  The  application  of  psychology. 

(3)  Psychology  in  the  field  of  religion. 

(4)  VaUie  of  work  done  in  this  field. 

(5)  Sources  and  methods. 


II.   The  Psychology  of  the  Soul    ...      26 

I.  The  Fundamentajl  Faculties  of  the  Soul, 

1.  THE   INTELLECT. 

( 1 )  Perception. 

(2)  Concepts. 

(3)  Reasoning. 

(4)  Association. 

(5)  Memory. 

(6)  Imagination. 

2.  SENSIBILITY. 

( 1 )  Sensations. 

(2)  Emotions. 

(3)  Pain  and  pleasure  tone. 

(4)  Temperaments. 

(5)  The  uses  of  the  feelings. 

3.  THE   WILL. 

(1)  The  attention. 

(2)  Motives. 

(a)    Instincts. 
( 6 )   Ideas. 
(c)   Desires. 

(3)  The  freedom  of  the  will. 

II.  Some   General  CnARACTEBisrics   of  tke 

Soul. 

(1)  Habit. 

(2)  Charaoter, 

(3)  Individuality. 

(4)  The  Huhconsciousness. 

(5)  Growth. 

0 


10  CONTENTS 

III.    The  Psychology  of  the  Moral  and  Re- 
ligious Nature 73 

I.  The  Moral  Nature  of  the  Soul. 

( 1 )  Conscience. 

(2)  The  scale  of  values. 

(3)  The  authority  of  conscience. 

II.  The  Religious  Nature  of  the  Soul. 

( 1 )  The  relation  of  morality  to  religion. 

(2)  The  origin  and  nature  of  religion. 

(3)  Religion  rooted  in  every  part  of  our 

nature. 
(a)   In  our  intuitions  and  instincts. 
(6)   In  the  feelings, 
(c)   In  the  intellect. 
{d)   In  the  will. 

IV.    The  Psychology  of  Sin 103 

I,  The  Natl^re  of  Sin. 

(1)  The  Biblical  idea  of  sin. 

(a)   The  Hebrew  words  for  sin. 
(6)   The  Greek  words  for  sin. 

(2)  The  psychological  nature  of  sin. 
(a.)   Sin  as  sensuousness. 

(&)    Sin  as  finiteness. 
(c)   Sin  as  selfishness. 

(3)  Is  sin  a  state  of  the  soul? 

II.  A  Study  of  Six  in  Action. 

( 1 )  Temptation  tipped  with  doubt. 

(2)  Entrance  of  temptation  through  sense  per- 

ception. 
•     (3)   Association  intensifies  temptation. 

(4)  The  act  of  sin. 

(5)  The  sense  of  sin. 

(6)  The  enslavement  and  contagion  of  sin. 

III.  Is  the  Sense  of  Sin  Declining? 

(1)  Abatement  of  the  general  sense  of  fear. 

(2)  Reaction  against  extreme  views  of  hell. 

(3)  Changed  views  of  the  character  of  God. 

(4)  Changed  views  of  sin  itself. 

(5)  Our  modern  life  less  subjective  and  more 

objective. 

(6)  Increased  emphasis  on  the  positive  side  of 

life. 

(7)  A  broader  and  finer  ethical  sense. 

(8)  The  terrible  fact  of  sin  remains. 


CONTENTS  11                  I 

V.    The  Psychology  of  Conversion   .       .  .     143                   ■ 

I.  The  Nature  of  Conversion.  i 

( 1 )  Conversions  in  the  non-religious  field.  ! 
(a)  Carlyle.  j 
(6)  John  Stuart  Mill.  j 
(c)   Multiple  personalities.  i 

(2)  Conversions  in  the  religious  field.  j 
(a)  Tolstoy.  ' 
(6)  Twice-Born  Men.  \ 
(c)   Paul.  I 

II.  The  Means  of  Conversion.  i 

( 1 )  Conversion  an  act  of  mind.  I 

(2)  Three  steps  in  conversion.  j 
(a)  Repentance.  i 
(6)    Faith. 

(c)   Obedience.  i 

(3)  Conversion  and  the  subconsciousness.  | 

(4)  Conversion  and  revivals.  , 

(5)  The  power  of  the  v^ill  in  conversion. 


III.  The  Age  of  Conversion.  ^^. 

( 1 )  The  facts  as  to  early  conversion. 

(2)  The  explanation  of  the  facts. 

IV.  Types  of  Con\t:rsion. 

( 1 )  Childhood  and  adult  conversions. 

(2)  Gradual  and  comfortable,  and  Sudden  and 

violent  conversions. 

(3)  Intellectual  and  emotional  conversions. 

VI.    The  Psychology  of  the  Christian  Life     .     200 

I.  Growth. 

(1)  The  Christian  life  a  growth. 

(2)  Pedagogical   applications  of  the  principle 

of  growth. 

II.  Environment. 

III.  Truth. 

(1)  The  nature  and  function  of  truth. 

(2)  The  Bible  a  Htorehou9t>  of  religious  truth. 

(3)  The  psychology  of  words. 

(4)  The  comprehensive  and  progressive  nature 

of  r<>ligious  truth. 

(5)  The  formation  of  beliefs  and  creeds. 

(6)  Doctrinal  preaching. 

(7)  The  place  of  doubt  in  religious  belief. 

(8)  Meditation. 

(9)  Truth  and  life. 


U  CONTENTS 

IV.  Worship. 

..  ( 1 )    Prayer. 

(a)   The  objective  reality  of  prayer. 
(6)    The  subjective  conditions  of  prayer, 
{c)   The  reflex  influence  of  prayer. 
(d)   Prayer  issuing  in  obedience. 

(2)  Music  and  song. 

(3)  Giving. 

(4)  Social  worship. 

(5)  Esthetic  element   in  worship. 

V.  Work. 

( 1 )  For  our  own  sake. 

(2)  For  the  sake  of  others. 

(3)  The  call  to  service. 

VI.  Imagination. 

( 1 )  flakes  truth  vivid. 

(2)  Corrects  faults. 

(3)  Builds  up  Christian  character. 

VII.  Habit. 

( 1 )  The  value  of  habit  in  religion. 

(2)  Four  rules  on  habits,  ; 
(a)  Begin  with  all  your  might.  I 
(&)  Never  suffer  an  exception.  '. 
(c)  Seize  the  first  opportunity  to  act.  ; 
{d)  Keep  the  faculty  of  effort  alive  by  ex- 
ercise.                                                             \ 

M^III.  Christ  in  Us.  j 

(1)  Negative  aspects  of  the  Christian  life.  < 
(a)  Not  religious  forms.  j 
(6)   Not  knowledge  about  Christ.  ; 

(c)  Not  moral  education.  ' 

(d)  Not  imitation  of  Christ. 

(2)  Positive  aspects  of  the  Christian  life.  ; 
(a)  The  life  and  liberty  of  the  spirit.  ! 
( 6 )   Self-surrender  of  the  heart  to  Christ.  I 

*   IX.  Discipline.  i 

X.  Character.  ] 

(1)  The  nature  of  Christian  character.  i 

(2)  Is  character  a  by-product?  | 

(3)  Individuality  in  Christian  character.  i 

(4)  Christian  society. 

VII.    The  Psychology  of  the  Sermon      .       .     290 

I.  The  Parts  of  the  Sermon. 

(1)  The  text.  ! 

(2)  The  topic. 

{a)  A  subject  worth  while.  ! 

( 

i 


,1 
J 

CONTENTS                                13  i 

i 

(6)   One  that  concerns  us.  ! 

(c)   Timely.  i 

{d)  Attractively  stated.  i 

(3)  The  plan.     . 

(a)   Unity.  I 
(6)   Logical  order, 
(c)   Cumulative  power. 

(4)  The  introduction.  > 

(5)  The  body  of  the  sermon.  i 

(6)  The  conclusion.  I 

II.  General  Chaeacteristics  of  the  Sermon. 

.(1)  Style.  I 
(a)   Lucidity. 

(6)   Force.  i 

(c)    Beauty.  : 

(2)  Illustrations.  ' 

(3)  Slang  and  humour.  ] 

(4)  Imagination.  i 
(a)    Creative  imagination. 
(6)   Illustrative  imagination, 
(c)   Verbal  imagination. 

(5)  The  spirit  of  the  sermon. 

III.   I^lANNER   AND   DELR-ERY.  1 

( 1 )  The  manner  of  the  preacher.  ] 

(2)  The  delivery  of  the  sermon.  } 
(a)  Distinctness.  j 
(6)  Varying  modulation.  \ 
(c)  Conversational  style.  ' 
{d)   Gestures.  I 

VIII.     The  Broader  PsYcnoLOor  of  Preaching  .     327 

I.  The  Study  of  Nature. 

(1)  Good  health.                       ^  i 

(2)  Intimate  acquaintance  with  nature. 

(3)  A  good  thinking  shop.  ' 

II.  The  Study  of  Literature.  ' 

(1)  Discipline  in  thought.  i 

(2)  Discipline  in  feeling  and  imagiuation.  j 

(3)  Discipline  in  style. 

III,  The  Study  of  PHn.osopnY.  \ 

(1)  Mental  discipline.  , 

(2)  The  use  of  pliilosophy  in  preaching.  I 

(3)  The  foundation  of  thrologj'.  j 

(4)  An*" objection  answered.  , 

IV.  The  Powkr  of  Personality.  i 

(1)  Personality  the  master  force  of  life. 

(2)  What  is  personality? 


14  CONTENTS 

(3)   Points  in  efficient  personality, 
(a)   BV)dily  vigour. 
(&)   Unity. 

(c)   Unconsciousness  of  self. 
{d)   Intensity, 
(e)   The  Cliristlike  spirit. 

V.  The  Preacher  as  a  Prophet. 


IX.    The  Psychology  of  Teaching  .       .       .     355 

I.  Definite  Aims  in  Teaching. 
II.  The  Preparation  of  the  Lesson. 

III.  The  Teacher  Before  the  Class. 

IV.  The  Art  of  Questioning. 

V.  The  Use  of  Imagination  and  Illustration. 
VI.  Getting  the  Scholars  to  Work. 
VII.  The  Teacher's,  Interest  in  the  Scholars. 
VIIL  Leading  Scholars  to  Christ. 

Bibliographical  Note 379 

Index .       •.       .     383 


Draw  if  thou  canst  the  mystic  line  j 

Severing  rightly  His  from  thine,  ' 

Which  is  human,  which  Divine.  ■ 

— Emebson.  I 

i 

I  say  that  man  was  made  to  grow,  not  stop; 

That  help,  he  needed  once,  and  needs  no  more,  | 

Having  grown  but  an  inch  by,  is  withdrawn:  i 

For  he  hath  new  needs,  and  new  helps  to  these.  i 

This  imports  solely,  man  should  mount  on  each 
New  height  in  view;  the  help  whereby  he  mounts, 
Tlie  ladder-rung  his  foot  has  left,  may  fall, 
Since  all  things  suffer  change  save  God  the  Truth. 
Man  apprehends  him  newly  at  each  stage 

Whereat  earth's  ladder  drops,  its  service  done;  ' 

And  nothing  shall  prove  twice  what  once  was  proved.  \ 

— Browning.  * 

Till  we   all  attain   unto   the  unity  of  the   faith,   and  of  the  I 

knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God,  unto  a  full-grown  man,  unto  the 
measure  of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ. — Paul.  ' 


CHAPTER  I 
INTRODUCTION 

PSYCHOLOGY  is  the  science  of  the  soul;  the 
study  of  its  faculties  and  activities,  of  the  modes 
and  laws  of  its  operations. 
I.  Psychology  a  Late  Science. — As  psychology  is 
the  knowledge  of  man's  own  mind  and  inmost  self  we 
might  expect  to  find  that  it  appeared  early  in  the 
history  of  human  thought  as  one  of  the  first  of  the 
sciences :  yet  it  is  one  of  the  latest.  Man  studied  every- 
thing else  before  he  studied  himself.  His  own  con- 
sciousness was  the  last  thing  of  which  he  became  con- 
scious. At  first  he  was  absorbed  in  his  senses  and 
lived  objectively  in  the  outward  world,  and  only  long 
afterr^-ard  did  he  become  aware  of  himself  and  study 
his  subjective  states  and  processes.  In  this  respect  the 
experience  of  the  race  is  recapitulated  by  the  child,  a 
fact  which  has  been  finely  expressed  by  Tennyson: 

The  baby  new  to  earth  and  sky, 

What  time  its  tender  palm  is  prest 
Against  the  circle  of  the  breast, 

Has  never  thought  that  "this  is  I:  " 

But  as  he  grows  he  gathers  much, 
And  h-arns  the  use  of  "  I  "  and  "  me," 
And  finds  "  I  am  not  wliat  I  gee. 

And  other  than  tlie  things  I  touch." 

So  rounds  he  to  a  separate  mind 

From  whence  clear  memory  may  begin, 
As  thro'  the  frame  that  binds  him  in 

His  isolation  grows  defined. 

17 


18         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

Of  course  man  used  his  mind  and  unconsciously 
obeyed  its  laws  long  before  he  studied  psychology. 
Practical  experience  always  precedes  systematic  knowl- 
edge ;  art  is  older  than  science.  Men  did  not  first  think 
about  life  and  then  begin  to  live,  but  they  first  lived 
and  then  began  to  think.  Their  instinctive  impulses 
and  practical  needs  pushed  them  into  action  before  they 
reflected  on  what  they  were  doing.  For  ages  they  lived 
in  the  sunlight  before  they  studied  solar  physics,  and 
practised  agriculture  before  they  developed  the  sciences 
of  chemistry  and  botany.  They  used  their  bodies  before 
they  dreamed  of  physiology,  and  health  did  not  wait  on 
hygiene.  So  they  have  used  their  minds  since  the  first 
man  began  to  live,  but  psychology  is  a  modern  science. 
It  is  true  that  there  were  beginnings  of  this  science  in 
ancient  times,  as  all  our  modern  sciences  have  their 
ancient  roots  and  germs.  The  Delphic  oracle  said, 
"  Know  thyself,"  and  Plato  and  Aristotle  were  even 
profound  psychologists;  yet  the  scientific  study  of 
psychology  is  hardly  a  hundred  years  old.  At  first  it 
was  largely  introspective  and  subjective  and  only  re- 
cently has  it  entered  the  laboratory  of  accurate  obser- 
vation and  measurement.  But,  now  that  it  has  gotten 
a  start,  it  has  grown  rapidly  and  much  progress  has 
been  made  and  a  great  literature  on  the  subject  has  been 
produced. 

2.  The  Application  of  Psychology. — Science  first 
grows  out  of  experience,  as  the  flower  out  of  the  soil, 
and  then  goes  back  into  experience  to  deepen  and 
enrich  it,  as  the  petals  of  the  flower  fall  back  into  the 
soil  to  fertilize  it  and  bring  forth  finer  blossoms.  Sci- 
ence and  art  thus  constantly  react  upon  and  mutually 
enrich  each  other.  All  our  magic  machines  and  mar- 
vellous multiplication  of  goods  grow  out  of  our  science 


INTRODUCTION  19 

which  masters  the  forces  of  nature  and  turns  them  into 
our  nimble  and  mighty  servants.  The  same  result  fol- 
lows from  the  study  of  psychology.  As  it  discloses  the 
laws  of  the  mind  it  enables  us  to  use  these  laws  more 
efficiently  and  fruitfully.  The  mind  is  the  primary 
agent  with  which  men  work  in  all  their  activities,  and 
therefore  psychology  should  be  one  of  the  most  prac- 
tical of  the  sciences. 

Psychologists  were  slow  and  late  in  beginning  this 
application,  but  now  they  are  working  it  out  in  all  di- 
rections. Recently  some  of  the  master  psychologists 
have  been  writing  such  practical  books.  Professor 
Josiah  Royce  entitles  his  work  on  psychology  Outlines 
of  Psychology/  with  Some  Practical  Applications,  and 
such  applications  are  suggested  all  through  the  book. 
Professor  William  James  delivered  his  helpful  Talks 
to  Teachers  on  Psychology.  More  recently  Professor 
Mtinsterberg  has  written  several  w^orks  on  the  prac- 
tical application  of  psychology,  notably  his  Psychol- 
ogy and  Industrial  Efficiency,  in  which  he  applies  this 
science  to  the  choice  of  a  vocation,  scientific  manage- 
ment, the  electric  railway  service,  the  telephone  ex- 
change, advertising,  buying  and  selling  goods,  and  to 
many  other  points  in  the  field  of  business,  in  a  most 
illuminating  and  helpful  way.  There  is  a  growing 
literature  of  such  books,  and  they  bring  psychology 
down  out  of  the  clouds  of  theory  and  out  of  the 
laboratory  and  hitch  it  to  the  wagons  of  the  world's 
work. 

3.  Psychology  in  the  Field  of  Religion. — If  psy- 
chology is  of  such  practical  inii)ortanre  in  the  fields  of 
education  and  art  and  even  of  business,  how  much 
more  so  should  it  1)6  in  the  field  of  religion.  Religion 
is  the  highest  activity  and  interest  of  the  soul,  and 


20         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

therefore  it  is  of  the  most  vital  importance  that  we 
understand  its  psychology  in  order  that  we  may  de- 
velop it  into  its  fullest  power  and  finest  fruitage.  And 
it  is  specially  important  that  ministers  and  religious 
teachers  should  understand  it,  for  religious  psychol- 
ogy is  the  very  stuff  with  which  they  work.  The  psy- 
chologists have  only  recently  entered  this  field.  When 
they  first  broke  into  it  they  were  immensely  interested 
in  and  pleased  with  it  as  a  rich  ^^  find "  or  mine  in 
their  domain,  and  they  have  been  working  it  with  un- 
common diligence  and  delight.  Professor  Edwin  D. 
Starbuck  was  one  of  the  first  to  enter  this  field,  and 
his  Psychology  of  Religion,  with  its  inductive  gather- 
ing and  tabulation  and  analysis  of  facts  and  results, 
is  still  one  of  the  most  useful  books  on  the  subject. 
Professor  William  James  followed  with  his  Varieties 
of  Religious  Experience,  which  on  the  whole  holds  its 
place  as  the  most  important  contribution  psychology 
has  yet  made  to  religion.  Other  books  have  followed 
in  rapid  succession,  and  the  literature  on  the  subject 
is  already  very  large  and  rich. 

4.  Value  of  Work  Done  in  this  Field. — The  value 
of  the  work  done  in  this  field  widely  varies.  Some  of 
it  has  been  highly  subjective  and  speculative  and  even 
characterized  by  wild  vagaries;  but  much  of  it  has 
been  sound  and  sane  and  has  vielded  solid  results  of 

t.' 

great  value.  The  psychology  of  religion  is  a  doubly 
subjective  science  in  that  it  depends  on  both  the  psy- 
chology and  the  religion  of  the  worker  in  this  field. 
As  some  psychologists  have  tried  to  work  out  a  psy- 
chology of  the  soul  without  any  soul,  so  have  some  of 
them  endeavoured  to  construct  a  psychology  of  re- 
ligion T\ithout  religion.  Under  their  treatment  of  it 
religion  has  evaporated  into  a  mere  subjective  feeling 


INTRODUCTION  21 

or  delusion  without  any  objective  reality,  and  such 
psychology  of  religion  is  baseless  and  worthless  both 
as  psychology  and  as  religion.  Any  one's  view  of  the 
psychology  of  religion  will  depend  upon  his  philosophy 
lying  back  of  both  his  psychology  and  his  religion.  If 
he  is  a  materialist  or  pantheist  or  any  kind  of  deter- 
minist,  neither  his  psychology  nor  his  religion  will 
have  much  value  to  a  theist,  for  such  deterministic 
monism  cuts  the  ground  from  under  free  agency  and 
responsibility  and  lets  all  worthy  and  useful  psychol- 
ogy and  religion  fall  into  a  common  ruin.  The  present 
book  is  based  on  theistic  philosophy  and  Christian 
faith,  and  with  such  a  soil  this  field  of  studv  has  some 
root  and  substance  and  sap  and  can  grow  fruit  that  is 
worth  while. 

The  psychology  of  religion  has  not  made  any  revo- 
lutionary discoveries  or  introduced  any  radical  changes 
in  religion.  As  a  rule  advancing  science  does  not  up- 
set the  fundamental  practical  experience  of  the  race, 
but  confirms  and  illuminates  it.  Agricultural  science 
has  not  driven  wheat  from  the  harvest  field  or  dis- 
placed bread  from  the  table,  and  astronomy  has  not 
blown  out  the  sun.  Psychology-  has  not  appeared  as 
the  foe  of  religion  to  destroy  it  or  radically  change  it, 
but  as  its  friend  to  help  it.  The  facts  of  religion  are 
indejKindent  of  the  theories  of  psychology,  and  they 
stand  as  some  of  the  most  solidly  rooted  and  perma- 
nent facts  in  the  world.  Psychology  searches  into 
the  nature  and  operation  of  religion,  but  it  can  no 
more  uproot  it  than  geology  can  uproot  the  mountains. 
Religion  has  so  far  not  suffered  at  the  hands  of  psy- 
chology: when  some  psychologists  have  explained  re- 
ligion away,  it  was  not  their  psychology  but  their 
philosoi)hy  that  did  this  destructive  work.    Psychology 


22         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

simply  throws  new  light  on  the  old  facts  of  religion 
and  thereby  makes  them  more  luminous  and  fruitful. 
No  doubt  it  does  sweep  away  many  shadows  and 
errors  from  religion,  but  this  is  the  work,  not  of  an 
enemy,  but  of  a  friend.  The  psychology  of  religion 
comes  not  to  destroy  but  to  fultil. 

5.  Sources  and  Methods. — The  original  source  of 
all  psychology  is  the  mind  itself,  which  is  immediately 
known  to  the  psychologist  only  in  his  own  mind.  In- 
trospection is  therefore  the  first  source  of  psychology 
in  general  and  of  the  psychology  of  religion  in  par- 
ticular. The  student  of  this  science  should  learn  to 
observe  the  working  of  his  own  mind  so  as  to  dis- 
criminate all  its  various  activities  and  note  its  modes 
and  laws.  This  is  a  difficult  art  because  not  only  does 
such  introspection  call  for  the  trained  skill  required 
in  all  scientific  observation,  but  the  mind  itself,  when 
made  the  object  of  its  own  observation,  is  so  change- 
able and  elusive  that  it  is  hard  to  catch  it  and  hold 
it  still.  The  very  act  of  becoming  conscious  of  a  state 
of  one's  own  mind  changes  the  state  and  may  radically 
modify  if  not  wholly  destroy  it.  Trying  to  catch  and 
see  one's  own  mind  is  like  trying  to  turn  on  the  gas 
or  electric  light  quick  enough  to  see  the  dark:  the 
state  may  vanish  as  we  try  to  see  it. 

Nevertheless  we  can  study  our  own  mental  states, 
and  such  states  are  the  original  and  only  direct  source 
we  can  have  of  any  kind  of  psychology.  If  therefore 
we  have  no  religious  experience  we  can  have  no  re- 
ligious psychology.  We  see  things  not  only  as  they 
are  but  also  as  we  are,  and  our  own  faculties  and' 
affinities  limit  our  possible  experiences.  The  absence 
of  any  religious  experience  in  the  soul  is  as  fatal  a 
bar  to  religious  psychology  as  blindness  is  to  the  sci- 


INTRODUCTION  23 

ence  of  esthetics.  In  this  study,  then,  we  need  to 
keep  in  close  touch  with  the  reality  of  our  own  experi- 
ence and  translate  everything  into  its  terms  and  bring 
it  to  this  test. 

The  secondary  and  derived  source  of  material  for 
the  psychology  of  religion  is  the  experience  of  others 
as  this  is  observed  in  their  behaviour  and  is  com- 
municated to  us  orally  or  through  written  records. 
There  are  many  special  books  which  record  the  re- 
ligious experience  of  others,  and  these  are  rich  sources 
of  religious  psychology.  The  biographies  of  notable 
religious  characters  are  especially  valuable  as  ma- 
terials for  this  study.  But  all  literature  is  a  secretion 
from  the  experience  of  the  human  soul  and  is  a  great 
mine  containing  rich  veins  of  ore  that  can  be  worked 
in  the  interest  of  religious  psychology.  This  science, 
like  Caesar,  sends  out  a  decree  that  all  the  world  shall 
be  taxed  in  its  interest,  and  every  field  of  human 
experience  brings  grist  to  its  mill. 

The  gTeat  book  and  source  for  this  subject,  of 
course,  is  the  Bible.  This  is  a  mass  of  religious  experi-  r 
ence  from  beginning  to  end;  for  it  was  all  experienced 
before  it  was  written,  and  after  it  was  experienced  it 
was  expressed,  after  it  was  done  it  was  said.  The 
Hebrew  people  were  endowed  with  religious  genius, 
as  the  Greeks  were  with  intellectual  brilliance  and  the 
Romans  with  organizing  power,  and  God  could  blow 
his  breath  and  music  througli  them  more  fully  and 
richly  than  through  less  spiritually  sensitive  souls. 
Their  prophets  and  apostles  were  mountain  peaks  that 
caup^lit  the  li^^ht  of  God's  unity  and  spirituality  and 
righteousness  earlier  than  other  i)e(»ple  and  rellected  it 
down  upon  the  world.  Their  religious  experiences 
were   therefore   deeper   and    loftier   and   richer   than 


24         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

those  of  any  other  people  and  have  become  the  classi- 
cal ideal  and  inspiration  for  succeeding  ages. 

This  religious  experience  of  these  wonderful  people 
was  secreted  and  crystallized  in  the  Bible,  which  re- 
mains as  the  richest  mine  of  religious  psychology  in 
the  world.  The  divine  revelations  they  received  are 
recorded  in  it,  their  prayers  and  songs  are  embalmed 
in  it,  their  growth  and  discipline  in  faith  and  right- 
eousness, their  doubts  and  fears,  blind  gropings  and 
stumblings,  trials  and  tears,  mistakes  and  sins  and 
shame,  their  penalties  and  repentance,  the  growing 
spirituality  and  beauty  of  their  ideals,  and  all  the 
tragedy  and  pathos  of  their  history,  are  mirrored  on 
these  pages,  the  most  immortal  and  incomparable  book 
in  the  world.  It  is  a  masterpiece  of  psychology  in  its 
dissection  of  the  human  heart  and  disclosure  of  the  in- 
terior workings  of  the  soul  and  its  religious  experience. 
To  this  classical  book  and  source  we  must  ever  go  for 
the  fullest  and  clearest  illustration  and  illumination  of 
the  psychology  of  religion. 

The  method  of  our  science  is  the  general  method  of 
all  psychology  and  of  all  science,  which  is  the  careful 
observation  and  interpretation  of  the  facts  in  its  field. 
Some  sciences  have  an  elaborate  outfit  of  special  instru- 
ments, but  psychology  has  few :  its  laboratory,  useful  as 
it  is,  plays  a  subordinate  part  and  has  made  few  impor- 
tant contributions  to  the  science,  William  James,  the 
master  psychologist  of  the  day,  being  the  witness  on 
this  point.  The  mind's  own  processes  are  the  funda- 
mental instruments  of  all  science.  Observation,  com- 
parison, discrimination,  tracing  of  causal  links  and 
connections,  deduction  of  general  principles, — these  are 
the  methods  of  science.  Science  has  no  secret  cham- 
ber in  which  it  works  and  no  patented  process  of  dis- 


INTRODUCTION  25 

covering  truth.  It  works  in  the  open  and  uses  the 
ordinary  processes  of  human  thinking.  The  greatest 
scientist  or  even  the  profoundest  metaphysician  does 
not  differ  in  his  essential  processes  of  reasoning  from 
the  man  on  the  street :  he  is  only  more  careful. 

The  study  of  the  psychology  of  religion  calls  for  no 
other  faculties  and  methods  than  those  we  use  in  the 
common  fields  of  life.  We  need  to  strive  to  see  clearly 
and  accurately,  to  cleanse  our  minds  of  prejudices,  to 
see  reality  as  it  is  and  interpret  it  into  its  true  mean- 
ing, to  be  candid  and  humble  and  teachable,  to  have  a 
passion  for  truth  and  to  be  obedient  to  every  heavenly 
vision,  and  then  we  may  hope  to  find  the  truth,  at  least 
as  a  practical  guide  in  life. 

As  the  psychology  of  religion  is  a  special  branch  or 
application  of  general  psychology,  it  may  be  well,  in  an 
elementary  book  like  this,  to  introduce  the  subject  with 
an  outline  sketch  of  the  psychology  of  the  soul.  Such 
a  sketch  must  be  very  rudimentary  and  little  more  than 
a  skeleton  or  bundle  of  definitions,  but  it  will  furnish 
a  background  and  framework  for  what  is  to  follow. 


CHAPTER  II 
THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL 

WE  are  now  to  observe  the  soul  itself  and  take 
stock  of  its  contents.  It  is  not  a  far-off 
world,  or  one  external  to  us,  but  is  our 
inmost  self  in  which  we  live  and  move  and  have  our 
being.  We  might  then  think  that  we  understand  it  per- 
fectly, and  we  do  understand  it  better  than  anything 
else,  for  we  have  immediate  experience  of  it;  and  yet 
our  knowledge  of  it  may  be  vague  and  confused,  or  mis- 
taken and  perverted,  and  needs  to  be  cleared  and  sys- 
tematized by  reflective  thought. 

We  shall  not  stop  to  define  or  discuss  the  nature  of 
the  soul,  or  to  consider  whether  or  not  we  have  or  are 
souls,  for  these  questions  belong  to  philosophy  rather 
than  psychology.  We  accept  the  empirical  intuitive 
fact,  more  certain  than  any  other  fact,  that  we  think,, 
therefore  we  are ;  we  are  conscious  beings,  and  the  con- 
gdpus  self  is  what  we  mean  by  the  soul. 

Consciousness  is  an  infinite  complex  and  may  at  first 
appear  to  be  a  scene  of  confusion ;  but,  like  the  world  of 
nature,  it  turns  out  to  be  a  world  of  beautiful  order, 
and  its  operations  can  be  reduced  to  a  few  fundamental 
activities  and  laws. 

I.   The  Fundamental  Faculties  of  the  Soul 

An  old  and  obvious  and  fundamental  division  of  the 
faculties  of  the  soul  is  the  threefold  division  into  intel- 
lect, sensibility,  and  will.    We  think,  we  feel,  and  we 

26 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL        21 

will:  these  exhaust  the  activities  of  the  soul,  for  we 
never  do  anything  more  or  less  than  these  things.  It 
is  not  meant,  of  course,  that  the  soul  has  three  separate 
faculties  or  parts  that  act  in  these  ways,  for  the  soul 
has  no  material  dimensions  and  parts  and  is  not  di- 
visible, but  the  whole  consciousness  acts  in  these  three 
fundamental  modes.  Neither  does  the  soul  act  in  only 
one  of  these  ways  at  a  time,  but  i^  all  of  them  simul- 
taneously, though  they  are  combined  and  blended  in 
different  ways  and  degrees.  We  never  think  that  we  do 
not  at  the  same  time  feel,  and  we  never  feel  that  we  do 
not  at  the  same  time  will.  Every  state  and  activity  of 
consciousness  is  a  complex  exercise  of  thought,  feeling, 
and  will.  Yet  one  of  these  states  may  be  and  usually  is 
so  predominant  as  to  submerge  and  obscure  the  others. 
We  may  seem  to  be  thinking  only,  or  feeling  only,  or 
willing  only,  but  closer  inspection  discloses  all  three  in 
simultaneous  action.  There  are  also  logical  relations 
among  these  states,  thought  stirring  up  feelings  and 
feelings  moving  the  will,  and  this  fact  is  of  the  greatest 
practical  importance.  However,  while  these  three 
fundamental  activities  are  always  interblended  and 
logically  related,  yet  we  can  dissect  them  and  study 
them  one  at  a  time. 

1.     INTELLECT 

The  intellect  comes  first  in  order  of  our  study.  This 
is  the  knowing  power  of  the  mind,  and  it  resolves  itself 
into  the  faculties  or  activities  of  perception,  concepts, 
reasoning,  association,  memory,  and  iinagiuation. 

I.  Perception. — Sense  perception  is  the  conscious- 
ness of  external  objects  when  the  mind  is  stirred  into 
activity  by  the  excitation  of  our  senses.  These  are  the 
organs  of  sight,  sound,  smell,  taste,  and  touch,  which 


28         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

are  nerve  ends  differentiated  and  adapted  to  receive 
different  kinds  of  external  impressions.  By  counting 
our  organic  feelings  as  senses  and  breaking  up  the  sense 
of  touch  into  various  subsenses,  such  as  contact,  heat, 
cold,  and  still  others,  we  can  have  any  number  of  senses 
up  to  fifteen  or  twenty;  but  the  classical  number  of 
five  stands  in  the  usual  description  of  our  senses. 

Each  one  of  the  sense  organs  is  a  wonderful  arrange- 
ment for  receiving  external  impressions  and  trans- 
mitting them  to  the  brain.  Sound  waves,  which  are 
successive  rarefactions  and  condensations  of  the  air 
caused  by  the  vibrating  body,  impinge  on  the  drum  of 
the  ear  and  send  a  stream  of  molecular  changes  up  to 
the  auditory  centre  in  the  brain;  and  the  other  senses 
send  their  currents  of  distinctive  changes  up  to  their 
special  brain  centres.  These  sense  excitations  arrive 
in  the  brain  as  some  form  of  molecular  agitation,  very 
much  as  telegraphic  messages  arrive  in  a  telegraph 
office,  or  as  telephone  calls  arrive  in  the  central  ex- 
change. 

And  now  the  mind  has  the  wonderful  and  quite  mys- 
terious power  of  interpreting  or  experiencing  these 
molecular  changes  as  perceptions  of  the  external  ob- 
jects producing  them.  How  the  mind  does  this  is  ut- 
terly beyond  our  inspection  and  knowledge  and  is  one 
of  the  ultimate  mysteries  of  psychology. 

It  is  to  be  noted,  however,  that  the  mind  is  not  sim- 
ply a  blank  and  passive  plate  or  mirror  that  receives 
these  impi-essions  and  contributes  nothing  to  them  it- 
self. On  the  contrarv,  the  mind  is  active  and  creative 
in  the  process.  It  has  a  constitution  of  its  own  which 
furnishes  the  moulds  in  which  these  sense  materials  are 
cast  and  shaped.  It  has  inherent  general  principles  or 
ideas  of  unity  and  difference,  quantity  and  quality, 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL         29 

logical  order  and  causation,  and  other  "  categories," 
as  Kant,  their  great  discoverer,  called  them,  and  by 
these  the  mind  gives  form  and  meaning  to  its  sense 
materials.  It  would  lead  us  over  into  the  field  of 
philosophy  to  discuss  this  point  further,  but  it  is  funda- 
mental in  the  constitution  of  the  mind. 

The  sense  of  sight  gives  us  a  visual  image  of  an  ob- 
ject, the  sense  of  sound  an  auditory  image  of  it,  and  so 
on,  each  sense  thus  creating  in  our  mind  its  appropri- 
ate sense  perception  or  percept.  When  two  or  more  of 
these  percepts  are  caused  by  the  same  external  object, 
they  combine  into  a  unitary  compound  percept,  or 
construct,  as  it  is  called.  These  percepts  and  constructs 
are  the  immediate  objects  of  our  knowledge  and  are 
the  only  things  we  thus  know.  They  are  the  only  things 
in  our  mind  and  immediately  present  in  its  experience. 
We  intuitively  project  these  percepts  and  constructs 
into  the  outer  world  and  think  we  see  objects  in 
external  space;  but  this  is  a  kind  of  mental  illusion, 
and  the  real  process  of  seeing  and  knowing  takes  place 
in  the  mind  itself.  This  fact  does  not  in  the  least 
deny  or  impair  the  reality  of  the  outer  world,  but  it 
does  throw  light  on  the  process  by  which  we  know  it. 

In  forming  its  sense  perceptions  the  mind  not  only 
contributes  to  them  its  constitutional  jirinciples  or 
categories,  but  it  also  pours  into  them  the  contents  of 
its  existing  knowledge  and  thus  colours  and  enriches 
them,  or,  it  may  be,  perverts  them  with  mistaken  no- 
tions. We  set  every  new  fact  or  im])ressi(m  in  the 
framework  and  light  of  our  existing  knowledge,  and 
this  "  apjierception,"  as  it  is  called,  is  a  large  and  vital 
factor  in  all  our  knowledge.  We  thus  see  things,  not 
only  as  they  are,  but  also  as  we  are.  The  mind  itself 
is  an  active  and  determining  agent  in  forming  our 


30        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

knowledge.  Every  one  thus  sees  his  own  objects  and 
creates  his  own  world.  It  is  these  differences  in  minds 
that  make  the  immense  differences  in  the  things  men 
see.  When  Turner  showed  one  of  his  sunsets  to  a  friend 
and  the  friend  remarked  that  he  had  never  seen  such  a 
sunset,  Turner  replied,  ''Don't  you  wish  you  could?" 
Ruskin  says  that  ^'  the  greatest  thing  a  human  soul  ever 
does  in  this  world  is  to  see  something,  and  tell  what 
it  saw  in  a  plain  way."  We  may  think  that  he  did 
not  tell  anything  in  a  plain  way  in  his  pages  that  are 
cloth  of  gold  emblazoned  with  gems,  but  then  he  did 
tell  in  a  plain  way  what  he  saw. 

These  percepts  and  constructs  are  the  representatives 
in  our  minds  of  the  realities  of  the  objective  world,  and 
therefore  it  is  of  the  first  importance  that  they  repre- 
sent them  accurately.  They  are  the  constituent  ele- 
ments or  cut  stones  or  pressed  bricks  out  of  which  we 
build  our  world.  We  then  see  the  fundamental  im- 
portance of  forming  correct  percepts  and  constructs. 
Any  inaccuracy  or  error  in  them,  caused  by  inattention, 
ignorance,  mental  blindness,  self-interest,  prejudice,  or 
passion,  will  throw  us  out  of  gear  and  right  working 
relations  with  reality;  it  will  ramify  and  pervert  all 
our  ideas  and  plans;  and  it  may  undermine  and  ruin 
our  whole  structure  of  thought  and  life. 

We  should  then  bring  the  most  skilful  training  and 
give  the  greatest  care  to  the  forming  of  our  percepts  so 
that  they  will  exactly  fit  and  reproduce  reality.  In 
seeing  things  we  should  train  our  vision  so  that  we 
shall  see  them  clearly  and  correctly,  and  not  see  blurred 
and  blotted,  distorted  and  perverted  images  of  them; 
and  so  with  all  the  other  senses.  In  seeing  accurately 
the  shape  of  a  leaf  or  the  colour  of  a  bit  of  ribbon  w^e 
may  be  determining  something  of  immense  importance. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL         31 

If  the  tiny  bricks  in  a  building,  or  even  one  brick,  is  of 
the  wrong  size  or  shape,  it  may  throw  the  whole  build- 
ing out  of  plumb  and  even  endanger  its  stability.  We 
should  beware  of  mixing  up  our  subjective  opinions 
and  prejudices  and  especially  our  own  interests  with 
objective  reality  and  thus  shaping  and  colouring  it  to 
suit  our  own  ends.  Of  course  we  should  and  must  in- 
terpret things  in  the  light  of  our  own  knowledge,  and 
this  is  a  reason  why  we  should  be  constantly  stocking 
our  minds  with  richer  stores  of  knowledge  that  we  may 
ever  see  a  richer  world.  In  a  sense  w^e  make  the  things 
we  see,  for  we  contribute  to  them  the  contents  of  our 
own  minds,  as  we  have  already  seen.  But  this  process 
does  not  justify  us  in  contributing  any  false  colour  or 
element  to  our  perceptions. 

elupt  to  perceive  reality  as  it  is :  this  is  the  foundation 
of  truth  and  honesty;  it  goes  deep  into  our  character 
and  life  and  destiny;  and  we  should  give  to  it  our 
utmost  training  and  care. 

2.  Concepts. — The  next  step  in  our  mental  processes 
is  to  turn  an  individual  percept  or  construct  into  a 
general  idea  or  concept.  The  mental  image  that  repro- 
duces an  individual  object,  such  as  an  apple,  is  released 
from  its  local  context  in  consciousness  and  made  to 
stand  for  and  represent  all  apples,  or  the  class  or  gen- 
eral idea  of  an  apple;  and  in  a  similar  way  all  indi- 
vidual percepts  or  constructs  are  generalized  into  con- 
cepts. These  general  classes,  however,  are  not  the  same 
as  the  intuitional  principles  or  categories  of  the  mind 
of  which  we  have  spoken.  Categories  are  inherent  in 
the  constitution  of  the  mind  and  are  not  the  product  of 
experience,  although  experience  is  necessary  to  call 
them  into  action. 

This  process  by  which  we  generalize  objects  into 


32         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

classes  is  a  very  high  power  of  the  mind.  The  lower 
animals  do  not  have  it.  A  horse  or  a  dog  knows  indi- 
vidual things,  but  it  does  not  have  general  ideas  or  con- 
cepts of  things.  The  accuracy  and  fulness  and  richness 
of  contents  of  our  concepts  depend  upon  the  correctness 
and  vividness  and  wealth  of  detail  of  our  percepts ;  and 
so  again  we  see  the  importance  of  accurate  sense  per- 
ceptions as  the  foundation  and  constituent  elements  of 
our  general  ideas. 

3.  Reasoning. — The  process  by  which  the  mind 
works  with  its  percepts  and  concepts  is  its  reasoning 
power.  This  consists  in  comparing,  discriminating, 
analyzing,  and  classifying  its  percepts  and  concepts, 
or  its  images  of  objects  and  its  general  ideas,  so  as  to 
discern  their  relations,  logically  combine  them  into 
larger  units,  trace  their  connections  and  especially  their 
causal  links  and  deduce  their  consequences;  and 
thus  we  build  up  our  knowledge  into  judgments  and 
propositions  and  systems  and  draw  practical  conclu- 
sions. It  is  this  power  of  the  mind  that  arranges  and 
rules  all  the  fields  of  life. 

Thus  starting  with  tiny  visual  images  in  his  eyes  and 
percepts  and  constructs  in  his  mind  the  astronomer 
combines  these  into  grand  concepts  and  reasons  out  a 
sublime  system  for  the  whole  stupendous  heavens. 
Every  other  scientist  in  like  manner  perceives  and  con- 
structs the  facts  in  his  field,  and  thus  our  knowledge 
grows  from  more  to  more.  Each  one  of  us  thus  reasons 
out  his  own  purposes  and  plans  and  builds  his  own 
world. 

4.  Association. — Association  of  ideas  is  the  power 
they  have  of  clinging  together  so  that  when  one  comes 
up  in  the  mind  it  brings  others  with  it.  It  is  our  con- 
stant familiar  experience  that  one  object  or  idea  sug- 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL         33 

gests  another  or  many  others.  The  sight  of  a  rain  cloud 
suggests  the  idea  of  an  umbrella,  and  this  idea  may  sug- 
gest the  fact  that  it  was  borrowed  from  a  neighbour, 
possibly  without  his  consent  or  knowledge.  The  sight 
of  a  little  lock  of  hair  or  a  glimpse  of  the  old  home 
crowds  the  mind  with  a  thousand  fond  recollections 
too  deep  for  tears.  When  any  idea  enters  the  mind  it 
quickly  draws  to  itself  a  cluster  of  associations,  as  when 
a  magnet  is  thrust  into  a  keg  of  nails  it  comes  out 
thickly  encrusted  with  the  bits  of  iron. 

Every  one  knows  that  any  idea  arising  in  the  mind 
may  grow  until  it  fills  all  the  thoughts  and  absorbs 
the  whole  life.  A  striking  illustration  of  this  is  seen 
in  Dr.  J.  G.  Frazer's  work  on  primitive  religion  en- 
titled The  Golden  Bough.  It  appeared  in  the  first  edi- 
tion in  two  large  volumes,  but  in  the  third  edition 
these  had  grown  to  twelve,  and  the  bibliography,  con- 
taining the  titles  of  the  works  quoted  in  it,  and  the  in- 
dex fill  the  last  volume.  "  When  I  originally  conceived 
the  idea  of  the  work,"  he  writes  in  the  Preface  of  the 
third  edition,  "  my  intention  merely  was  to  explain  the 
strange  rule  of  the  priesthood  or  sacred  kingship  of 
Nemi  and  wuth  it  the  legend  of  the  Golden  Bough, 
immortalized  by  Virgil,  and  at  first  I  thought  that  it 
might  be  adequately  set  forth  within  the  compass  of  a 
small  volume.  But  I  soon  found  that  in  attemi)tiug 
to  settle  one  question  I  had  raised  many  more:  wide 
and  wider  prospects  0{)ened  out  before  me;  and  thus 
step  by  step  I  was  lured  on  into  far-spreading  fields 
of  primitive  thought  which  had  been  little  explored  by 
my  predecessors.  Thus  the  book  grew  on  my  hands, 
and  soon  the  projected  essay  became  a  ponderous 
treatise."  The  subject  tlius  kept  running  its  roots  out 
over  the  borders  of  the  field  until  it  encompassed  and 


84f         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

enmeshed  the  globe.  And  even  then  Dr.  Frazer  prob- 
ably felt  that  he  had  only  begun  his  investigations.  As- 
sociation is  an  insatiable  appetite  that  devours  more 
and  more,  a  fire  that  spreads  from  a  centre  in  every 
direction,  a  banyan  tree  that  keeps  dropping  branches 
that  become  roots  and  thus  grows  into  a  vast  forest. 
A  single  seed  may  become  a  harvest  that  fills  all  the 
years  of  life.  All  knowledge  is  related,  and  from  any 
centre  association  may  run  threads  of  relation  and 
bind  it  into  unitv. 

These  associations  often  seem  accidental  and  whimsi- 
cal, but  they  are  really  governed  by  beautiful  laws  that 
spin  threads  and  enable  us  to  trace  links  of  connection 
between  associations  that  seem  at  first  to  have  no  pos- 
sible relation.  The  most  common  of  these  laws  are 
contiguity  in  time  and  place,  similarity  and  contrast, 
and  causal  connection.  Objects  and  ideas  that  have 
been  experienced  together  once  will  tend  to  appear  to- 
gether again,  and  any  object  tends  to  suggest  its  like- 
ness or  contrast,  or  its  cause  or  consequence.  However 
fantastic  or  absurd  seems  the  association  there  is  al- 
ways some  connection,  it  may  be  through  many  inter- 
mediate links,  by  which  the  one  term  in  such  a  relation 
suggests  another. 

Every  object  and  idea  and  word  is  surrounded  with 
a  fringe  or  atmosphere  of  associations,  and  as  every 
mind  has  its  own  stock  of  knowledge,  words  and  ideas 
have  very  different  meanings  and  suggestions  for  dif- 
ferent minds.  The  idea  of  a  prison  has  a  vastly  differ- 
ent connotation  or  meaning  for  a  convict  than  for  one 
who  has  never  been  inside  prison  walls,  or  the  word 
music  for  the  musician  than  for  one  without  musical 
training  or  sense.  These  associations  give  breadth 
and  depth  and  wealth  of  meaning  to  words  and  objects 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL        35 

as  the  overtones  in  music  give  character  and  richness  to 
musical  notes. 

It  is  the  number  and  variety  of  the  associations  with 
which  our  minds  are  stored  that  constitute  the  width 
and  wealth  and  power  of  our  mental  life.  Every  mind 
organizes  around  any  idea  its  entire  contents.  It  per- 
ceives every  new  truth  in  the  light  of  and  brings  it  into 
relation  with  its  existing  knowledge,  in  accordance  with 
the  process  of  apperception.  One  mark  of  a  man  of 
genius  is  the  immense  range  and  variety  of  his  associa- 
tions by  which  he  calls  the  whole  world  to  his  aid  to 
illustrate  and  illuminate  his  ideas;  and  the  poverty  and 
impotence  of  an  ignorant  or  feeble  mind  is  the  meagre- 
ness  of  its  associations.  Multiply  your  associations, 
store  your  mind  with  facts  and  ideas  through  observa- 
tion and  reading,  and  you  will  thus  have  a  reservoir  in 
your  mind  that  you  can  tap  on  any  subject  at  any  time 
and  draw  forth  streams  of  thought  and  power.  This 
is  one  result  and  value  of  education. 

5.  Memory. — Memory  is  the  conserving  power  of  the 
mind,  its  capacity  to  store  up  and  retain  and  recall  its 
experiences.  It  is  the  treasure  house  of  life  in  which  all 
its  past  is  packed  away  and  out  of  which  our  associa- 
tions emerge ;  it  is  the  thread  of  continuity  that  binds 
all  our  days  together  into  conscious  unity.  Without 
the  i)Ower  of  memory  we  would  not  have  conscious 
knr)\s  ledge  of  the  past  and  would  not  even  know  our- 
selves as  identical  persons  from  day  to  day.  It  is  thus 
the  spinal  coluiim  of  personality.  While  it  is  not  the 
highest  power  of  the  mind  and  is  related  to  conserva- 
tism rather  than  to  initiative  and  progress,  yet  memory 
is  fundamental  and  enters  vitally  into  our  whole  life. 
Its  cardinal  virtues  are  quick  reception,  tenacity  of 
retention,  and  readiness  of  recall,  and  it  thus  puts  our 


36         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

whole  stock  of  knowledge  and  experience  at  our  fingers^ 
ends. 

6.  Imagination. — Imagination  is  the  picture-making 
power  of  the  mind.  It  is  sometimes  thought  of  as  a 
mere  play  of  the  mind,  while  observation  and  reasoning 
do  its  sober  solid  w^ork.  There  is  a  kind  of  imagina- 
tion, the  fancy,  which  does  move  in  an  unreal  world 
on  a  light  gay  wing,  but  imagination  proper  is  one  of 
the  most  fundamental  and  fruitful  of  our  faculties.  It 
begins  with  memory  images,  which  are  bits  of  imagina- 
tion, and  it  constructs  images  or  pictures  of  objects 
and  scenes  from  the  stores  of  memory.  This  is  re- 
productive imagination,  and  it  is  a  constituent  element 
in  all  our  thought. 

A  deeper  use  of  the  imagination  is  its  power  of 
realizing  objects  that  lie  beyond  the  immediate  range 
of  the  senses  and  contact  of  the  mind  with  reality.  It 
is  the  mental  tool  by  which  we  translate  symbols,  such 
as  words  and  algebraic  signs  which  only  stand  for 
things,  into  the  meaning  and  power  of  the  things  them- 
selves. Thus  in  studying  geography  and  history  the 
mind  has  certain  information  about  places  and  events 
that  are  not  immediately  before  it:  imagination  takes 
these  statements  which  are  little  more  than  symbols 
and  translates  them  into  images  w^hich  we  see  almost  or 
altogether  as  vividly  as  though  the  realities  themselves 
were  present  to  us;  it  clothes  these  skeletons  with  flesh 
and  blood  so  that  they  breathe  and  move.  Knowledge 
is  never  digested  and  assimilated  into  our  ow^n  thought 
and  experience,  it  never  becomes  alive  and  moves  us, 
until  we  thus  turn  it  into  pictures  or  vivid  images  that 
may  be  as  vital  and  vigorous  as  the  living  realities. 
Imagination  is  an  eye  that  sweeps  the  earth  and  the 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL         37 

heavens  and  penetrates  all  space  and  time  and  sees 
facts  face  to  face. 

A  still  higher  activity  of  this  faculty  is  the  creative 
imagination  which  constructs  pictures,  plans,  ideals, 
visions  of  its  own,  and  thus  "  bodies  forth  the  forms  of 
things  unknown,  turns  them  to  shapes,  and  gives  to  airy 
nothing  a  local  habitation  and  a  name."  It  is  this  form 
of  imagination  that  creates  plans  that  improve  our 
life  at  every  point.  A  mother  sees  in  her  mind  an 
ideal  of  a  better  home,  and  presently  her  own  home 
begins  to  grow  into  new  order  and  show  new  touches 
of  taste  and  beauty  until  her  ideal  is  realized.  A 
farmer  sees  the  vision  of  a  better  farm,  more  thorough 
in  its  cultivation  and  more  fruitful  in  its  fields  and 
orchards,  and  his  own  farm  soon  shows  improvement 
and  approximates  his  ideal.  A  mechanic  imagines  a 
better  piece  of  work,  more  strongly  built  or  handsomely 
shaped  or  finely  finished,  and  he  makes  a  better  engine 
or  piece  of  furniture. 

It  is  the  creative  imagination  that  produces  all  the 
glories  of  literature  and  art  and  all  the  great  achieve- 
ments of  men.  Men  of  genius  are  eminently  the  chil- 
dren of  their  imagination ;  they  see  visions  that  unveil 
the  beauty  of  the  world.  A  poet  sees  fairy  fancies 
and  grand  cathedrals  of  poetic  thought  and,  with  his 
"  eye  in  a  fine  frcnz}'  rolling,"  he  puts  them  into  im- 
mortal lines.  The  painter  sees  in  the  gallery  of  his 
imagination  a  picture  of  fair  features  and  gl(>wing 
colours  and  deep  meaning,  and  his  brush  copies  it  on 
canvas.  A  sculptor  sees  an  angel  in  a  block  of  marble, 
and  his  chisel  sets  it  free  until  it  l)egins  to  breathe.  A 
musician  hears  in  the  chamber  of  his  heart  sweet 
strains  and  grand  harmonies,  and  he  (lings  them  out 
through  his  voice  and  linger  lips  upon  the  air. 


38        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

Every  deed  was  first  a  thought,  every,  victory  was 
first  a  vision.  Columbus  saw  in  imagination  a  new 
path  to  the  old  world,  and  that  vision,  treated  with 
scepticism  and  ridicule  by  the  dull-eyed  men  of  his  day, 
led  him  out  over  the  unknown  mysterious  Atlantic  until 
he  stood  victorious  upon  a  new  shore.  Four  centuries 
later  another  man  of  creative  imagination  saw  an  elec- 
tric cable  running  under  that  same  ocean,  and  again  the 
vision  was  ridiculed;  but  it  held  on  its  way  and  now 
enmeshes  the  earth  with  a  network  of  cables  that  is 
constantly  throbbing  with  the  life  of  the  world.  Luther 
had  a  vision  that  shattered  papal  despotism  and  liber- 
ated Europe.  Lincoln  had  a  vision  that  wrote  the 
Emancipation  Proclamation  and  freed  an  enslaved 
race. 

Imagination,  then,  is  no  light  and  fanciful  exercise 
of  the  mind,  but  is  its  most  powerful  faculty.  It  is  by 
this  power  that  man  dreams  dreams  and  that  over  his 
path  hover  visions  that  coax  and  woo  him  on  to  larger 
and  lovelier  things.  He  follows  their  gleam,  he  hitches 
his  wagons  to  their  stars  and  rises  starward  from  the 
dust.  The  world  has  learned  to  beware  of  how  it 
stands  in  the  way  of  imagination:  that  invisible  im- 
palpable power  may  have  in  it  more  might  than  ten 
thousand  bayonets  or  a  million  tons  of  dynamite  and 
may  crush  mountains,  shape  the  centuries,  and  create  a 
new  world. 

We  have  thus  rapidly  looked  into  the  workshop  of 
the  intellect  and  noted  the  machinery  by  which  it  turns 
out  the  products  of  thought.  It  is  by  these  faculties 
and  processes  that  the  human  mind  has  written  all  the 
books  and  libraries  in  the  world;  that  it  perceives  ob- 
jects, evolves  ideas  and  ideals,  builds  systems  of  science 
and  philosophy,  conquers  nature,  constructs  the  plans 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL        39 

and  paths  along  which  life  moves,  and  has  thought  out 
our  whole  vast  civilization. 

We  may  note,  in  leaving  this  part  of  our  subject,  the 
important  distinction  between  knowledge  and  intelli- 
gence. Knowledge  is  information:  intelligence  is  de- 
veloped and  disciplined  mind.  Knowledge  is  a  posses- 
sion: intelligence  is  a  power.  Knowledge  does  not 
necessarily  produce  or  imply  intelligence:  intelligence 
produces  knowledge.  Knowledge  is  static  and  passive : 
intelligence  is  dynamic  and  active.  Knowledge  re- 
ceives: intelligence  creates.  Knowledge  handles  the 
old  and  familiar  and  is  disconcerted  with  the  new:  in- 
telligence is  stimulated  by  the  new  and  meets  and  mas- 
ters novel  situations  and  problems.  Knowledge  drills, 
and  intelligence  thrills.  Knowledge  is  useful  and  neces- 
sary, great  widths  and  immense  stocks  of  it  in  the  mind 
by  so  much  enlarge  and  enrich  life,  but  intelligence  is 
the  principal  thing,  for  only  intelligence  is  power,  and 
with  all  our  getting  we  should  develop  intelligence. 

2.     SENSIBILITY 

The  sensibility  is  the  power  of  the  soul  to  experience 
feeling,  or  a  state  of  excitement.  The  feelings  are  an 
infinite  complex,  shading  into  one  another  like  the 
evanescent  hues  of  a  sunset,  and  they  do  not  admit  of 
such  exact  classification  and  analvsis  as  do  tlio  faculties 
of  the  intellect.  They  fall,  however,  into  some  broad 
classes. 

I.  Sensations. — Sensations  are  feelings  caused  by 
direct  physical  action  on  tlie  nerves.  They  include, 
first,  the  excitations  of  the  senses.  The  degree  of  feel- 
ing in  tliese  senses  varies.  It  is  very  slight  in  sight  and 
hearing,  excejjt  when  the  excitation  is  excessive,  or 
when  the  organ  is  abnoimaiiy  sensitive  by  reason  of  on 


40         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

inflamed  or  diseased  condition,  and  then  the  feeling 
may  be  intense.  There  is  also  but  slight  feeling  in  smell 
and  little  in  taste.  These  four  senses  produce  states  of 
perception  that  are  largely  intellectual.  ^'  Knowledge 
and  feeling,  perception  and  sensation,"  says  Sir  William 
Hamilton,  ^'  though  alvv'ays  coexistent,  are  always  in 
the  inverse  ratio  of  each  other." 

In  the  sense  of  touch  the  feeling  element  becomes  pro- 
nounced and  often  predominant.  The  sensation  of  re- 
sistance experienced  in  hard  or  rough  substances  or  on 
sharp  points  or  edges  is  almost  purely  a  feeling.  The 
nerves  of  feeling  distributed  over  the  entire  surface  of 
the  body  are  really  a  complex  sense.  Temperature  has 
special  nerves  for  both  heat  and  cold;  and  there  are 
many  special  pain  and  pleasure  points  or  nerves  all  over 
the  bodv. 

Besides  the  senses,  there  are  numberless  organic 
feelings  throughout  the  body.  The  appetites  are  at- 
tended with  a  wide  range  and  variety  of  feeling  in  tone 
and  intensity.  The  movement  of  the  muscles  is  accom- 
panied with  muscular  feelings.  The  internal  organs 
ordinai^ly  carry  on  their  activities  without  producing 
any  feeling,  but  any  derangement  of  their  condition  or 
operation  reports  itself  in  feeling  that  may  range  from 
dim  discomfort  to  intense  agony.  There  is  always  pres- 
ent a  scarcely  perceptible,  quiet,  comfortable  mass  or 
sense  of  feeling  that  is  the  background  of  our  conscious- 
ness and  whole  life.  Every  sensory  nerve  in  the  body 
is  sensitive  to  irritation  and  is  ready  to  respond  with 
its  peculiar  feeling. 

2.  Emotions. — A  second  general  class  of  feelings  are 
the  emotions,  which  are  feelings  caused  by  the  presenta- 
tion to  the  mind  of  an  object  or  idea.  The  sight  of  an 
enemy  may  throw  the  soul  into  a  state  of  violent  fear. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL         41 

and  of  a  friend  may  kindle  it  into  a  glow  of  love  and 
joy;  and  the  idea  of  an  enemy  or  of  a  friend  will  pro- 
duce the  same  feelings,  though  in  a  much  weaker  de- 
gree. Every  object  and  idea  tends  to  produce  its  own 
peculiar  feeling  and  there  may  thus  be  as  many  kinds 
or  shades  of  emotion  as  there  are  objects  and  ideas; 
but  they  fall  into  a  few  general  classes,  such  as  fear  and 
hope,  hatred  and  love,  joy  and  sorrow,  antipathy  and 
sympathy,  the  sublime  and  the  ridiculous,  aspiration 
and  reverence,  and  these  may  range  in  degree  from  a 
mere  tendency  or  slight  stir  of  feeling  to  the  greatest 
intensity. 

When  the  intellectual  element  predominates  over  the 
feeling  and  especially  when  it  is  a  fixed  system  or  dis- 
position of  ideas  the  emotion  becomes  a  sentiment,  such 
as  the  sentiment  of  friendship  or  patriotism ;  and  when 
the  feeling  element  predominates  over  the  intellectual 
the  emotion  becomes  a  passion. 

3.  Pain  and  Pleasure  Tone. — Feelings  have  a  pain 
or  pleasure  tone,  which  is  often  their  most  distinctive 
and  compelling  characteristic.  Every  feeling,  whether 
of  sensation  or  emotion,  has  this  quality.  The  physical 
sensations  are  attended  with  the  pains  and  pleasures 
of  the  senses  and  appetites  or  organic  feelings,  and 
emotions  are  characterized  not  less  by  the  same  tone. 
A  mere  idea  may  flood  the  soul  with  pleasure  or  send 
flames  of  agony  leaping  along  the  nerves.  All  of  our 
feelings  may  be  arranged  and  marshalled  under  these 
two  captains  of  the  soul. 

Love,  Hope,  and  Joy,  fair  j)loasurc'8  smiling  train, 
Hope,  Fear,  and  firief,  the  family  of  pain; 
Thfsc  mixed  with  art  and  to  diu"  bounds  confined, 
Make  and  maintain  the  balance  of  the  mind. 

— PorE. 


42         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

4.  Temperaments. — Every  person  has  a  prevailing 
emotional  tone  or  disposition  which  is  a  native  in- 
heritance and  is  persistent  through  life,  though  subject 
to  some  control  and  slow  modification  by  the  will.  A 
temperament  is  the  emotional  pitch  to  which  one  is 
kej^ed  and  is  the  tonic  note  of  all  his  music.  It  is  the 
sounding-board  which  gives  quality  to  all  his  moods. 
It  is  an  emotional  lens  that  gives  character  and  colour 
to  all  his  experiences.  All  his  mental  states  sift 
through  his  temperament,  as  light  through  a  stained 
glass  window,  and  are  tinged  by  its  hues. 

There  are  four  temperaments,  which  have  been  known 
and  named  from  ancient  times:  the  sanguine,  the 
phlegmatic,  the  choleric,  and  the  melancholy.  These 
names  embody  the  ancient  view  that  these  tempera- 
ments were  due  to  four  humours  of  the  body:  blood, 
phlegm,  bile,  and  a  hypothetical  black  bile. 

The  sanguine  temperament,  implying  fulness  of 
blood,  is  a  lively  and  hopeful  disposition.  It  is  marked 
by  vivacity  and  effervescence,  bubbling  over  with  ex- 
uberant hopefulness  and  always  seeing  things  through 
a  rosy  optimism.  It  looks  at  the  bright  side  of  ob- 
jects and  has  great  confidence  in  its  own  views  and 
visions.  It  paints  its  plans  and  prospects  in  the  colours 
of  the  imagination  and  wreathes  them  in  rainbows. 
It  may  be  correspondingly  blind  to  the  real  difficulties 
in  the  way  and  meet  with  unseen  obstructions  and  run 
into  disaster.  It  infects  language,  and  people  of  this 
temperament  are  apt  to  speak  in  glowing  terms,  uncon- 
sciously bordering  on  visionary  unreality.  They  some- 
times live  in  a  "  fooFs  Paradise,"  and  often  experience 
a  rude  awakening  and  shock.  Yet  they  quickly  recover 
their  resiliency  and  are  soon  dreaming  new  dreams. 
The  sanguine  people  furnish  the  lively  element  in  life; 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL        43 

they  radiate  good  cheer  and  are  the  optimists  of  the 
world. 

The  opposite  of  the  sanguine  is  the  phlegmatic  tem- 
perfiment.  This  is  a  dull  passive  disposition,  slow  in 
its  movements  of  thought  and  action.  It  is  deficient  in 
initiative  and  progressiveness  and  jogs  along  in  tradi- 
tional grooves.  It  is  not  easily  excited  with  hope  on 
the  one  hand,  or  on  the  other  depressed  with  discour- 
agement, but  plods  along  with  equal  step  through  sun- 
shine and  storm.  People  of  phlegmatic  temperament 
furnish  the  ballast  in  the  ship  of  progress.  They  are 
solid  and  immobile  and  give  substance  and  stability  to 
the  world. 

The  choleric  temperament  is  impulsive  and  rash,  hot 
and  violent,  progressive  and  pushing,  decisive  and 
domineering.  It  will  brook  no  interference  with  its 
desires  and  plans,  but  breaks  through  all  opposition. 
It  is  the  progressive  spring  in  human  character,  impa- 
tient of  tradition  and  conservatism,  and  driving  for- 
ward, it  may  be,  recklessly  and  blindly.  People  of  this 
disposition  are  leaders  and  pioneers  in  the  world,  work- 
ing under  high  pressure  and  sweeping  all  obstacles  and 
opposition  out  of  their  path. 

The  melancholic  is  the  deep  brooding  temperament, 
characterized  by  outward  passivity  but  inward  inten- 
sity. It  is  given  to  thought  and  meditation  and  strives 
to  see  things  as  they  are  in  their  inmost  natures.  It 
does  not  shrink  from  but  rather  is  attracted  to  the  dark 
side  of  things  and  is  veined  and  tinged  with  pessimism. 
Its  deep  undertone  is  one  of  sadness  in  view  of  the 
world.  It  weaves  minor  notes  into  all  its  chords.  The 
people  of  nielanc  liolic  temj)eraniont  are  tlio  philosophers 
and  prophets  and  poets,  the  thinkers  and  di*eamers  of 
the  race. 


U         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

These  four  temperaments  may  be  more  or  less  mixed 
in  the  same  person,  with  one  of  them  the  predominant 
strain.  Some  people  alternate  in  their  temperament  so 
that  at  different  times  they  seem  like  different  persons. 
Moods  are  passing  phases  of  temperament,  and  these 
are  very  changeable  in  the  weather  of  the  soul.  One 
temi)erament  may  prevail  at  one  age  in  life,  and  an- 
other at  a  later  age.  Childhood,  it  is  said,  is  phleg- 
matic, youth  is  sanguine,  maturity  choleric,  and  old 
age  melancholic.  The  female  sex  is  prevailingly  san- 
guine and  phlegmatic,  and  the  male  choleric  and 
melancholic.  Nations  and  races  may  be  characterized 
by  dominant  temperaments.  The  Hebrews  were  melan- 
cholic, the  Greeks  sanguine,  and  the  Eomans  choleric. 
The  Irish  are  sanguine,  the  English  phlegmatic,  and 
the  Scotch  choleric.  The  French  are  sanguine,  and 
the  Germans  phlegmatic. 

These  temperaments  go  deep  into  character  and  life 
and  give  texture  and  tone  to  our  virtues  and  vices,  our 
temptations  and  triumphs;  and  they  produce  different 
types  of  religious  life. 

5.  The  Uses  of  the  Feelings. — The  uses  or  functions 
of  the  feelings  is  a  subject  much  discussed  by  psy- 
chologists, but  with  varying  results.  The  broad  use  of 
the  feelings  is  to  promote  the  volume  and  value  of 
life  and  give  it  interest  and  motive.  Pleasure  as  a  rule 
attends  and  stimulates  such  activities  of  body  and  mind 
as  are  conducive  to  life,  and  pain  attends  such  activities 
as  injure  or  hinder  it.  As  Herbert  Spencer  expresses 
this  fact,  "Pains  are  the  correlatives  of  actions  in- 
jurious to  the  organism,  while  pleasures  are  the  cor- 
relatives of  actions  conducive  to  its  welfare."  He 
works  this  principle  out  at  great  length  in  his  PiHn- 
ciples  of  Psychology,  and  again  in  his  Principles  of 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL         45 

Ethics,  unfolding  the  modifications  and  limitations  that 
govern  its  application.  It  is  evident  that  this  view  is 
true  in  a  broad  way.  The  bodily  activities  that  sus- 
tain and  promote  life,  such  as  eating  and  exercise,  are 
usually  attended  with  jjleasure,  and  injurious  activities 
and  conditions,  such  as  disease,  produce  pain.  And 
the  same  fact  is  true  of  emotions,  for  they  stimulate 
or  depress  life  according  as  they  are  pleasurable  or^ 
painful. 

We  at  once  think,  however,  of  the  pleasures,  such 
as  gluttony  and  intoxication,  that  are  injurious  and 
even  deadly,  and  of  the  pains,  such  as  those  attending 
medicine  and  surgery,  that  may  promote  health  and 
save  life.  But  only  the  effect  of  pleasures  and  pains  in 
the  long  run  is  to  be  considered.  Activities  that  are 
permanently  pleasurable  jjromote  life,  and  pains  that 
ultimately  bring  good  results  are  accepted  as  good. 
And  further,  when  pleasures  are  taken  to  include  satis- 
factions of  the  higher  moral  and  spiritual  sense,  these 
higher  satisfactions  take  precedence  over  and  control 
sensual  gratifications  and  are  the  greatest  means  of 
life. 

It  is  not  true  that  pleasures  of  the  lower  order  are 
the  means  and  guides  of  life  and  that  we  are  to  do  all 
we  can  to  get  pleasure  and  avoid  pain;  but  in  the  long 
run  and  up  through  the  whole  scale  of  life  it  is  true  that 
pleasure  or  satisfaction  coincides  with  life  and  pain 
with  death. 

It  is  the  feelings  that  give  us  a  sense  of  the  value  of 
objects.  Pure  intellect  perceives  facts  and  relations,  but 
not  worths.  One  object  is  as  truly  a  part  of  reality  to 
it  as  another,  and  it  thinks  only  in  terms  of  realitv  and 
not  of  value.  Its  work  is  done  when  it  determines  the 
reality  and  relations  of  an  object;  some  other  power 


46         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

of  the  soul  must  evaluate  its  worth,  and  the  heart  does 
this.  "  Our  judgments,"  says  William  James,  "  con- 
cerning the  worth  of  things,  big  or  little,  depend  on  the 
feelings  the  things  arouse  in  us.  When  we  judge  a 
thing  to  be  precious  in  consequence  of  the  idea  we 
frame  of  it,  this  is  only  because  the  idea  is  itself  asso- 
ciated already  with  a  feeling.  If  we  were  radically 
feelingless,  and  if  ideas  were  the  only  things  our 
minds  could  entertain,  we  should  lose  all  our  likes 
and  dislikes  at  a  stroke,  and  be  unable  to  point  to  any 
one  situation  of  experience  in  life  more  valuable  or 
significant  than  any  other."  ^ 

The  interest  of  life  resides  in  our  feelings.  It  is  not 
until  our  ideas  strike  these  mystic  strings  and  wake 
them  into  music  or  discord  that  they  excite  our  inter- 
est. The  feelings  are  like  the  box  of  the  violin  or 
sounding-board  of  the  piano:  the  strings  would  give 
forth  thin  and  insignificant  notes  if  they  were  not  reen- 
forced  by  these  resonators  which  sympathetically  catch 
up  their  vibrations  and  give  them  depth  and  com- 
plexity, richness  and  sweetness.  And  so  out  of  our 
feelings  arise  the  joys  and  sorrows,  the  triumphs  and 
tragedies  of  our  life. 

The  feelings  also  are  the  immediate  motives  that 
move  the  will.  There  is  no  tendencv  for  the  will  to  act 
until  the  feelings  pour  their  flood  upon  it  as  a  stream 
upon  a  wheel,  or  as  steam  into  the  cylinder  upon  the 
piston  that  drives  the  engine.  Objects  and  ideas  gen- 
erate feelings  of  sensation  and  emotion,  and  these 
accumulate  in  volume  and  pressure  until  they  overcome 
the  inertia  or  indecision  or  opposition  of  the  will  and 
push  it  into  action,  or  explode  it  as  a  spark  explodes 

^  Talks  to  Teachers  on  Psychologxh  p.  229.  See  also  The 
Problem  of  Knowledge,  by  D.  C.  Mackintosh;  p.  348. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL        47 

powder.     Pain  and  pleasure  especially  are  imperious 
forces  that  move  the  will  and  guide  and  govern  life. 

3.     THE  WILL 

The  will  is  the  power  of  the  soul  to  control  itself  in 
its  thoughts  and  feelings,  decisions  and  actions.  We 
have  seen  that  through  the  senses  a  stream  of  sensa- 
tions pours  into  the  consciousness.  The  whole  con- 
sciousness is  a  stream  of  activity,  fluctuating  in  level 
and  volume  and  rapidity,  sinking  into  the  subconscious 
deeps  in  sleep  and  then  rising  into  a  tumultuous  tor- 
rent and  overflowing  all  the  banks  of  the  soul.  This 
stream,  however,  is  not  an  ungovernable  flood,  sweep- 
ing everything  before  it,  on  which  the  will  floats  as  a 
helpless  log  or  drifts  in  a  boat  without  engine  or  rud- 
der. The  will  has  a  large  control  over  the  stream  and 
flood ;  it  has  a  rudder  in  its  hand  and  an  engine  in  its 
boat  by  which  it  can  steer  and  drive  it  in  any  direc- 
tion to  its  own  destination. 

I.  The  Attention. — The  will  first  exercises  its  power 
in  attention.  As  the  word  means,  this  is  a  "  stretch- 
ing" or  striving  of  the  mind  towards  an  object.  The 
field  of  consciousness  swarms  with  impulses,  sense  per- 
ceptions, concepts,  memories,  feelings,  desires,  ideas, 
and  ideals.  The  mind  is  not  indillerent  and  helpless  in 
Ihe  presence  of  this  complex  field,  but  has  various  aflin- 
ities  and  interests  and  has  the  power  of  choosing  the 
object  it  will  fasten  upon  and  make  the  focus  of  its 
attention.  It  then  concentrates  its  powers  on  this  ob- 
ject as  the  centre  of  consciousness,  wliile  other  objects 
are  crowded  into  the  background  and  margin  of  the 
field.  This  act  of  attention  is  necessary  to  any  normal 
menial  activity  whatever.  The  simplest  act  of  seeing  a 
light  or  hearing  a  sound  involves  the  fixing  and  focus- 


48         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

ing  of  the  mind  on  the  object.  Consciousness  cannot 
be  diffused  over  a  miscellaneous  multitude  of  things. 
Such  a  mental  field  grows  misty  and  loses  all  mean- 
ing and  perception.  Consciousness  must  concentrate 
itself  on  one  principal  object  as  the  focus  of  attention, 
though  many  other  objects  lying  around  the  central 
object  on  the  margin  of  the  mind  may  be  dimly  seen  or 
felt. 

This  object  of  attention  is  forced  on  the  mind  in  in- 
voluntary attention,  which  occurs  when  an  object  is 
thrust  into  the  mind  so  violently  as  to  overwhelm  and 
exclude  all  other  objects.  A  flash  of  lightning  or  a  clap 
of  thunder  instantly  compels  attention  and  for  the 
moment  crowds  everything  else  out  of  consciousness. 

In  voluntary  attention,  however,  the  mind  exercises 
its  own  power  in  selecting  the  object  on  which  it  fixes 
its  gaze  and  interest.  Many  objects,  ideas,  desires 
may  be  competing  for  the  attention  and  crowding  on 
the  self  with  their  vociferous  and  even  violent  claims 
and  clamours,  but  the  soul  can  itself  decide  which  of 
these  contestants  it  will  choose  as  the  object  to  which 
it  will  give  its  attention  and  thus  enthrone  it  in  the 
central  place  in  its  field. 

Voluntary  attention  is  the  root  of  self-control  and 
character,  the  power  that  compresses  all  the  energies 
of  the  soul  into  one  stream  and  the  lack  of  which  lets 
them  divide  and  drift  off  into  impotence,  so  that  the 
soul  is  strong  or  weak  according  to  its  strength  or  weak- 
ness at  this  point.  ^'  Human  nature,"  says  Professor 
Hugo  Miinsterberg,  ^'  is  indeed  so  arranged  that  the 
attention  at  first  follows  in  an  involuntary  way  all  that 
is  shining,  loud,  sensational,  and  surprising.  The  real 
development  of  mankind  lies  in  the  growth  of  the  volun- 
tary attention,  which  is  not  passively  attracted,  but 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL        49 

which  turns  actively  to  that  which  is  important  and 
significant  and  valuable  in  itself.  No  one  is  born  with 
such  a  power.  It  has  to  be  trained  and  educated.  Yes, 
perhaps  the  deepest  meaning  of  education  is  to  secure 
this  mental  energy  which  emancipates  itself  from  hap- 
hazard stimulations  of  the  world,  and  firmly  holds  that 
which  conforms  to  our  purpose  and  ideals.  This  great 
function  of  education  is  too  much  neglected."  ^  Con- 
stant care  and  exercise  should  be  given  to  this  power, 
that  it  may  be  developed  and  disciplined  into  masterful 
self-control. 

Once  the  attention  is  given  to  an  object  a  wonderful 
process  sets  in.  The  associations  of  the  mind  begin  to 
gravitate  to  the  central  object  in  an  increasing  mass. 
All  the  knowledge  and  experiences  and  memories  in  the 
mind  having  any  affinity  with  the  central  object  gather 
around  it,  swelling  and  enriching  its  volume  and  mean- 
ing and  power.  This  process  goes  on  until  the  total 
contents  of  the  mind  may  be  organized  around  this  one 
idea.^  At  the  same  time  these  associated  ideas  kindle 
their  appropriate  emotions,  and  they  add  their  fire  to 
the  central  mass  and  turn  it  into  a  blazing  heap.  And 
thus  the  attention  piles  fuel  on  an  idea  and  converts 
what  at  first  may  be  a  mere  spark  or  pale  cold  image 
into  the  hot  spot  and  burning  focus  of  consciousness, 
which  rages  as  a  furnace  in  the  soul  and  moves  the  will 
and  masters  the  life. 

These  associated  ideas  embrace  all  the  operations  of 
the  mind,  such  as  tracing  the  nature  and  activities,  the 
causes  and  consequences  of  an  object,  and  these  are 
attended  with  their  appropriate  feelings.  When  this 
process  has  accumulated  a  sufficient  volume  and  pres- 

^  Prohkms  of  To-day,  p.   17.  'See    pp.    32-35. 


50         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

sure  of  feeling,  the  will  responds  with  the  appropriate 
decision  and  action.  The  will  is  thus  not  a  power 
external  to  the  operations  of  the  mind,  which  thrusts 
its  arbitrary  decision  in  upon  them,  but  is  inherent 
in  the  mind's  constitution.  The  action  of  the  will  marks 
the  point  where  thought  and  feeling  have  reached  a 
sufficient  degree  of  clearness  and  intensity  to  over- 
come any  indifference  and  doubt  and  opposition  and  to 
effect  choice  and  decision.  At  this  point  the  feelings 
pour  their  stream  upon  the  will  and  push  it  into  action. 
Thus  the  will  unconsciously  works  in  involuntary  at- 
tention and  in  all  the  operations  of  the  mind,  and  in 
voluntary  attention  it  consciously  forms  its  choices  and 
decisions. 

2.  Motives. — This  brings  us  to  the  fact,  familiar  in 
our  experience,  that  the  will  is  not  an  arbitrary  action 
of  the  mind,  but  a  rational  process,  taking  place  under 
the  play  of  motives.  A  motive  is  any  influence  tending 
to  move  the  mind,  and  motives  are  of  several  kinds. 

(a)  The  first  motives  are  the  instincts.  An  instinct 
is  that  which  instigates  or  "  stings  "  us  into  action,  as 
the  word  means.  It  is  an  inherited  constitutional 
tendency  to  act  in  a  certain  way  when  the  appropriate 
condition  or  stimulus  is  present.  It  is  a  reflex  re- 
sponse, a  latent  impulse  or  coiled-up  spring  v>'aiting  to 
be  released.  It  is  not  the  product  of  personal  experi- 
ence, but  is  prior  to  such  experience  and  is  at  first  in- 
voluntary and  unconscious  in  its  action. 

Instincts  are  seen  in  beautiful  purity  and  perfec- 
tion in  an  infant,  which  at  once  begins  to  perform  many 
complex  and  even  difficult  acts  with  perfect  precision, 
such  as  suckling  the  breast  and  clasping  objects,  and 
then  in  rapid  succession  it  begins  to  grasp  at  objects 
and  carry  them  to  its  mouth,  to  cry  and  smile,  to  laugh 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL         51 

and  play,  to  creep  and  stand,  to  walk  and  talk,  and  so 
on  through  childhood.  Some  instincts  serve  their  tem- 
porary purpose  and  then  fade  away,  and  others  arise  as 
they  are  needed.  The  appetites  of  hunger  and  of  sex  are 
two  of  the  most  powerful  human  instincts  and  are 
among  the  main  masters  of  the  world.  The  animal 
world  is  full  of  instincts,  many  of  them  marvels  and 
mysteries  of  adaptation  and  perfection.  Most  animal 
instincts  are  also  found  in  man,  with  many  more  that 
are  peculiar  to  himself.  Professor  James,  in  his  Psy- 
chology,'^ devotes  a  chapter  to  their  study,  enumerating 
and  describing  many  of  them,  such  as  fear,  anger,  imi- 
tation, sympathy,  acquisitiveness,  constructiveness, 
play,  curiosity,  sociability,  secretiveness,  cleanliness, 
modesty,  love,  and  parental  love. 

The  important  fact  about  instincts  is  that  they  ex- 
press and  satisfy  the  fundamental  needs  of  life  by  their 
automatic  action.  They  urge  us  into  action  along  the 
line  of  these  needs  before  we  are  able  to  reason  them 
out  and  consciously  supply  them.  They  are  reflex  ac- 
tions which  do  not  pass  through  the  higher  centres  of 
the  brain  but  are  short-circuited  through  the  lower 
centres.  The  babe  can  do  nothing  as  the  result  of  rea- 
soning, and  if  it  had  to  act  on  conscious  motives  it 
would  quickly  perish.  Even  the  mother  could  not  keep 
it  alive  if  it  did  not  have  an  outfit  of  instincts  that  do 
necessary  things  automatically.  It  is  imperative  that 
we  should  eat  and  sleep  and  work  and  play,  and  nature 
does  not  wait  for  us  to  find  out  those  needs  and  discover 
and  supi)ly  the  means  of  satisfying  them,  but  it  has  put 
springs  within  us  which  are  released  at  the  touch  of  the 
proper  stimuli  and  push  us  into  action  before  we  re- 
flect on  the  process. 

»Vol.  II,  Chapter  XXIV. 


52        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

It  is  important  to  observe,  however,  that  instincts 
sooner  or  later  emerge  into  the  field  of  consciousness 
and  reason,  and  then  they  often  need  enlightenment  and 
control.  They  may  fall  out  of  adjustment  by  reason 
of  changes  in  environment  and  advancing  civilization, 
or  become  abnormal  and  perverted,  or  they  may  conflict 
with  higher  motives  and  need  modification  or  inhibition 
or  even  suppression.  In  so  far  as  they  act  as  involun- 
tary and  blind  impulses  they  are  no  more  rational  and 
ethical  activities  than  the  digestion  of  the  stomach  and 
the  beating  of  the  heart  and  are  not  motives  in  the 
proper  sense.  But  as  they  emerge  into  the  light  of  rea- 
son and  conscience  they  become  rational  and  ethical 
and  are  true  motives. 

There  are  not  only  instincts  that  relate  to  our  bodily 
life,  but  also  those  that  are  intellectual  and  moral. 
The  mind  has  as  many  instincts  as  the  body,  and  the 
whole  soul  is  full  of  them ;  or  rather  all  instincts  have 
mental  roots  and  relations.  Curiosity  is  a  universal 
and  powerful  intellectual  instinct,  sprouting  prolifi- 
cally  in  every  child  and  impelling  savages  to  peer  into 
caves  and  astronomers  to  explore  the  heavens.  Re- 
ligion is  one  of  the  profoundest  and  most  universal 
instincts  in  our  human  world,  building  its  temples  and 
altars  under  every  sky.  Instincts  thus  cover  the  whole 
field  of  our  activities  and  remain  through  life  as  funda- 
mental springs  and  motives  that  push  the  will  along  the 
path  of  our  primary  needs. 

( 6 )  Ideas  of  action  are  incipient  motives.  They  tend 
to  slip  by  and  short-circuit  the  processes  of  deliberation 
and  decision  and,  like  reflex  actions,  to  discharge  them- 
selves immediately.  The  moment  we  think  of  an  action 
we  experience  an  inclination  to  do  that  thing.  Thus 
when  we  look  down  from  a  height  the  idea  of  jumping 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL        53 

down  that  suggests  itself  makes  us  feel  like  giving  way 
to  the  impulse,  and  this  feeling  is  so  strong  in  some 
persons  that  they  fear  and  avoid  such  places.  Then 
why  do  not  all  our  ideas  pass  directly  into  action? 
Because  they  are  inhibited  by  other  ideas  that  counter- 
act them.  The  idea  that  emerges  in  the  centre  of  con- 
sciousness and  tends  to  execute  itself  is  surrounded 
with  other  ideas  in  the  margin  of  the  field,  ideas  of 
right  or  propriety  or  fear  of  consequences,  and  these 
act  as  checks  to  curb  it.  Were  it  not  for  these  in- 
hibitory restraints  every  idea  would  immediately  dis- 
charge itself,  and  this  would  destroy  our  deliberation 
and  free  will  and  responsibility.  This  is  the  condition 
of  some  insane  minds.  Thev  rattle  riorht  off  into  in- 
stant  action,  as  a  locomotive  runs  wild  and  exhausts 
itself  when  it  starts  witli  no  engineer  in  its  cab.  The 
normal  mind  is  under  the  restraint  of  many  inhibitory 
ideas  and  these  hold  it  in  the  balance  until  it  can  form 
its  decision.  Ideas  become  proper  motives  only  when 
they  are  deliberative. 

(c)  A  third  class  of  motives  are  our  conscious  de- 
sires and  ends.  A  desire  is  a  complex  mental  state  con- 
sisting of  an  idea  and  a  feeling,  an  idea  of  an  end  or 
object,  and  a  feeling  of  an  attitude  towards  it,  such  as 
craving  for  it  or  antipathy  to  it.  Desires  cover  the 
whole  field  of  life,  embracing  the  infinite  manifold  of 
our  cravings.  They  are  forward-looking  in  their  atti- 
tude, whereas  instincts  push  us  on  from  behind.  They 
stand  peering  into  the  future  to  see  what  they  can 
seize  that  will  furl  her  their  satisfaction.  They  move 
the  workman  to  his  toil,  the  mercliant  to  his  trade,  the 
gold  seeker  in  his  search,  the  statesman  in  his  anibi 
tion,  the  prophet  and  preacher  in  the  j)ursuit  of  their 
ideals,  and  the  philosopher  and  poet  in  their  divams  of 


54        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

truth  and  beauty.  The  two  master  desires  are  for  the 
possession  and  enjoyment  of  good  and  for  escape  from 
evil,  corresponding  with  the  two  primary  feelings  and 
forces  of  pleasure  and  pain. 

These  motives  differ  endlessly  in  nature  and  effi- 
ciency. A  motive  is  effective  according  as  it  perceives 
reality  correctly  and  clearly,  seizes  on  ends  that  are 
realizable  and  adopts  means  that  are  suitable  and  ef- 
ficient for  them ;  and  it  is  further  effective  as  this  idea 
or  intellectual  element  is  fired  with  intense  feeling  that 
gives  it  force  to  cut  its  way  through  opposition  to  at- 
tainment. The  motive  and  the  will  at  this  point  are 
fused  into  one  activity  and  a  powerful  motive  and  a 
masterly  will  are  one  and  the  same  thing.  Men  differ 
in  their  will  power,  then,  according  to  their  ability 
to  perceive  practicable  ends  clearly  and  to  energize 
the  ideas  of  these  ends  with  vivid  and  unconquerable 
feelings  of  purpose  and  determination. 

These  motives  are  subject  to  growth.  They  may  ap- 
pear in  the  mind  as  mere  sparks  of  light  or  germs  of  per- 
ception and  craving,  but  as  the  mind  dwells  upon  them 
association  begins  to  deepen  and  enrich  and  intensify 
them  and  thus  they  grow  into  a  hot  spot  and  glowing 
focus  that  fills  the  whole  soul  with  light  and  heat  and 
drives  the  will  into  action.  The  way  to  control  our 
wills  is  to  choose  our  ends  and  multiply  their  associa- 
tions and  thereby  intensify  their  feelings  until  they  tip 
the  scale  of  the  mind  into  decision.  When  motives  con- 
flict, as  they  often  do,  throwing  the  field  of  conscious- 
ness into  a  state  of  unstable  equilibrium,  doubt,  and 
perplexity,  or  turning  it  into  a  battle-ground  of  terrific 
strife  and  suffering,  we  have  it  in  our  power  to  decide 
the  contest  by  choosing  one  side  or  motive  and  then 
intensifying  it  until  it  overpowers  its  opponents  and 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL         55 

wins  the  victory.  This  choice  is  not  an  arbitrary  de- 
cision, a  pitching  by  sheer  force  on  one  motive  rather 
than  another,  but  is  a  process  and  act  of  delibera- 
tion and  consideration,  weighing  facts  and  principles, 
causes  and  consequences,  ideas  and  ideals,  deeds  and 
duties,  and  thus  coming  to  a  conclusion  that  carries 
with  it  the  will. 

3.   The  Freedom  of  the  Will. — This  brings  us  to  the 
age-long  controversy  over  the  freedom  of  the  will.    The 
question  is  to  be  settled  by  personal  intuitional  and 
ethical  experience  rather  than  by  psychological  analysis 
and  demonstration.    We  are  immediately  aware  in  our 
consciousness  of  the  freedom  or  power  to  control  our- 
selves in  our  decisions  and  actions,  and  no  argument 
can  shake  this  conviction.     It  is  the  primary  assump- 
tion of  all  our  thinking  and  reasoning  so  that,  without 
this  power,  our  very  argument  over  it  would  be  vain 
and  self-contradictory.    The  very  fact  that  we  discuss 
the  question  assumes  the  freedom  we  discuss.    And  our 
awareness  or  intuition  of  such  freedom  is  stronger  than 
any  argument  we  can  construct  against  it.    Though  we 
disproved  all  the  arguments  for  it  and  proved  all  the 
arguments  against  it,  yet  we  would  believe  in  it  still: 
for  the  principle  of  freedom  is  prior  to  the  process  of 
reasoning  and  gives  to  that  process  all  its  validity. 
Trying  to  persuade  us  that  we  are  not  rationally  and 
morally  free  is  like  the  attempt  of  the  Jews  to  con- 
vince the  man  whose  sight  had  been  restored  that  he 
was  still  blind.    ''  One  thing  I  know,  tliat,  whereas  I 
was  blind,  now  T  see."     With  the  sun  blazing  in  liis 
eyes  no  argument,  however  specious  and  strong,  could 
touch   his  experience.     So  in  answer  to  all  the  argu- 
ments of  determinism  we  declare,  ()n<'  thing  we  know: 
we  control  our  own  decisions  and  actions. 


56        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

This  insight  and  assurance  of  our  intuition  as  to  our 
freedom  is  confirmed  by  the  fact  that  the  denial  of 
freedom  and  the  doctrine  of  determinism  uproots  all 
responsibility  and  character,  destroys  not  only  ethics 
and  religion,  but  psychology  itself,  and  reduces  all 
human  character  and  conduct  and  history  to  physics 
and  chemistry.  The  whole  value  and  beauty  and  glory 
of  our  human  world  are  swept  away  and  only  a  system 
of  mechanical  cogwheels  or  a  furnace  and  cinder-pile 
remains. 

"  The  purely  dynamic  theory  of  the  world  views  it  as 
a  fire,  burning  to  an  ash-heap,  in  which  spirit  is  only 
a  fine  flame;  as  a  machine,  running  do^wTi  never  to  go 
again,  in  which  consciousness  is  only  a  cog.  This  view 
makes  short  work,  not  only  with  theology,  but  also  with 
ethics,  psychology,  and  history,  by  reducing  them  to 
physics,  and  raises  over  the  entire  universe  the  dread 
spectre  of  fatalism  and  final  extinction.  A  sure  escape 
from  this  fire  and  ash-heap  is  the  view  that  sees  the 
world  as  a  spiritual  system  in  which  energy  is  will, 
substance  is  soul,  ultimate  reality  is  personality,  and 
God  is  all  in  al]."^ 

So  contradictorv  is  the  doctrine  of  determinism  to 
our  self-consciousness  and  so  destructive  of  all  human 
character  and  worth  and  hopes  that  Kant  postulated 
the  freedom  of  the  soul,  along  with  God  and  immor- 
tality, as  one  of  the  necessities  of  our  practical  belief, 
necessary  for  the  very  living  of  our  life. 

The  freedom  of  the  soul  calls  for  definition  and  de- 
scription rather  than  for  demonstration.  It  does  not 
mean  an  unlimited  and  absolute  freedom.  It  does  not 
escape  from  the  natural  laws  of  the  world.     By  no 

*  The  JVorld  a  Spiritual  System:  an  Introduction  to  Metaphysics, 
p.  290. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL         57 

known  possibility  can  we  in  this  world  slit  the  en- 
velope of  time  and  space  and  slip  out  of  it.  Gravita- 
tion cannot  be  coaxed  or  forced  to  relax  its  grip  upon 
us.  Astronomy  and  physics  and  chemistry  are  inex- 
orable. All  these  laws  bind  us,  and  intellectual  and 
ethical  laws  are  not  less  imperious.  This  limitation, 
however,  is  no  real  bondage  to  our  liberty,  but  is  rather 
its  safety  and  enlargement.  The  steel  rails  do  not 
really  hinder  the  liberty  of  the  locomotive:  on  the  con- 
trary they  give  it  all  the  liberty  it  has.  It  has  freedom 
to  move  with  speed  and  safety  as  long  as  it  adheres  to 
the  rails;  when  it  jumps  the  track  it  lands  in  the  ditch 
and  its  liberty  is  gone.  The  laws  of  life  are  the  neces- 
sary tracks  on  which  we  can  move  with  safety  and 
speed,  and  when  we  leave  these  tracks  we  lose  our 
liberty.  Law  and  lil)erty  are  not  mutually  exclusive 
and  antagonistic,  but  are  mutually  complementary  and 
harmonious;  they  do  not  hinder,  but  they  help  each 
other.  Liberty  is  not  license.  The  highest  and  fullest 
liberty  is  obedience  to  law. 

One  far-reaching  limitation  on  our  freedom  is  found 
in  birth  and  heredity.  Our  century  and  civilization, 
race,  language  and  name,  and  largely  our  physical, 
mental,  and  moral  constitution,  whether  born  as  an 
average  normal  mind,  or  as  a  genius,  or  as  an  idiot, 
whether  in  a  pure  home,  or  in  a  den  of  vice,  whether  to 
be  brought  up  in  darkest  Africa  or  in  splendid  America, 
whether  as  pagan  or  Christian, — all  these  and  count- 
less other  things  are  foreordained  for  us  by  the  point 
of  our  birth ;  and  yet  we  have  no  more  to  do  with  deter- 
mining this  i)oint  tlian  we  have  with  fixing  the  position 
of  a  star  in  tlie  sky.  I  low  great  is  the  sovereignty  of 
heredity  over  onr  souls. 

We  are  also  limited  in  various  degrees  by  many  of 


58         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

the  practical  conditions  of  life.  As  a  rule  it  is  not 
easy  and  sometimes  not  possible  for  us  to  change  the 
place  of  our  residence,  our  home,  occupation,  and  the 
general  network  of  our  environment.  Often  these 
things  are  woven  about  us  like  a  mesh  of  steel  wires. 
Yet  after  all  these  and  other  limitations  have  been 
allowed,  there  remains  one  field  where  we  are  free: 
our  consciousness,  especially  in  our  motives  and  de- 
cisions. Within  this  narrow  but  vivid  and  vital  area 
we  can  cast  the  deciding  vote,  fix  the  centre  of  our 
circle,  plant  the  seed  of  our  harvest;  and  in  casting 
the  vote  we  carry  the  election,  in  fixing  the  centre  we 
sweep  the  whole  circumference  of  life,  in  planting  the 
seed  we  determine  our  harvest  of  deeds  and  character 
and  destiny.  Within  this  narrow  area  of  conscious- 
ness lies  all  the  libertv  we  have.  Our  wills  can  never 
go  outside  of  consciousness  to  do  anything  in  the  ex- 
ternal world.  All  we  can  do  in  the  way  of  controlling 
ourselves  is  to  make  our  choice  among  competing  ends 
and  motives  and  then  multiply  its  associations  and 
thereby  deepen  our  convictions  and  intensify  our  feel- 
ings until  action  results.  We  control  and  touch  the 
trigger  in  consciousness  that  releases  links  of  causation 
and  currents  of  energy  that  leap  out  into  the  world  and 
effect  our  near  or  far-off  purposes,  possibly  piercing 
mountains  and  ultimately  impinging  on  the  frontiers 
of  the  universe.  Our  freedom,  then,  is  no  unimportant 
and  trivial  thing  because  of  its  limitations,  but  is  de- 
cisive of  all  important  things  and  has  tremendous 
significance  and  force  in  our  character  and  conduct. 
The  pivot  of  a  pair  of  scales  is  limited  to  an  edge  as 
thin  as  a  knife-blade,  but  it  balances  the  lever  that 
decides  which  weight  is  the  heavier.  The  human  ■s\dll 
is  only  a  knife-blade  pivot,  but  on  it  trembles  the 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL         59 

power  that  determines  the  weight  of  motives  and  de- 
cides destiny. 

We  have  already  had  a  glimpse  into  the  mechanism 
by  which  we  exercise  our  liberty.  Motives  are  not  some- 
thing thrust  upon  us  from  without.  They  grow  up 
within  and  are  our  own  children.  The  opposite  of  free- 
dom is  force  imposed  upon  us  from  the  outside :  no  such 
force  does  or  can  restrain  and  bind  our  thoughts  and 
choices.  Our  motives  are  not  only  born  of  our  own 
nature,  but  they  are  subject  to  our  deliberation  and 
selection.  They  compete  for  our  approval,  but  they  do 
not  compel  it.  We  consider  and  weigh  and  evaluate 
them  and  choose  according  to  our  o\sti  standards.  We 
are  immediately  aware  of  this  power  and  act  of  choice ; 
and  this  is  a  final  fact  in  our  mental  and  moral  con- 
stitution. 

And  further,  motives  are  not  ready-made  and  fixed 
weights  that  are  dropped  upon  our  wills  and  determine 
them  like  weights  upon  a  pair  of  scales.  We  not  only 
choose,  but  we  make  our  motives  and  determine  their 
w^eight.  It  is  in  our  power,  as  we  have  seen,  to  inten- 
sify or  diminish  motives  by  increasing  or  decreasing 
their  associations  so  that  they  grow  into  overmaster- 
ing heat  and  power,  or  cool  and  wither  into  paleness 
and  impotency.  We  can  feed  a  motive  into  fatness  and 
lusty  strength,  or  we  can  starve  and  strangle  it  to 
deatli;  and  in  this  power  lies  the  very  core  and  centi-e 
of  our  freedom  and  responsibility.  The  motives  of  the 
soul  are  the  soul  itself  in  delilx^ration,  and  its  freedom 
is  its  self-activity.  We  are  always  free  to  choose  and 
act  according  to  our  own  nature,  and  this  is  the  only 
real  freedom. 

It  is  true  that  our  motives  are  shaped  and  coloured 
by  our  acquired  nature  or  character,  but  this  character 


60        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

is  the  product  of  all  our  past  volitions  and  is  so  much 
deposited  and  crystallized  will  for  which  we  are  respon- 
sible. Our  freedom  is  thus  deeply  rooted  in  our  past, 
yet  this  limitation  does  not  destroy  our  liberty, '  but 
only  enables  us  to  conserve  and  capitalize  our  past 
volitions. 

It  is  not  supposed  that  this  psychological  description 
of  the  working  of  our  free  will  clears  up  all  the  diffi- 
culties and  mysteries  connected  -with  it.  It  is  still 
environed  in  difficulties  and  its  very  heart  is  a  mys- 
tery which  we  may  never  unlock.  Yet  difficulties  do  not 
destroy  facts,  or  hinder  practical  aetion,  and  our  free- 
dom stands  in  the  midst  of  its  mysteries  as  one  of  the 
most  certain  facts  of  our  experience.  The  will  is 
thus  the  captain  of  the  soul  and  the  crown  of  its  sov- 
ereignty, pregnant  with  victory  and  glory  or  defeat  and 
shame.  It  builds  man's  world,  tossing  mountains  out 
of  its  path  and  creating  a  vast  splendid  civilization, 
carves  character  and  determines  destiny,  and  every 
man,  however  humble  and  bound  in  by  circumstance, 
is,  not  a  wind-blown  bubble  on  the  sea  or  atom  in  the 
storm  of  the  world, 

But  this  main  miracle,  that  thou  art  thou. 
With  power  on  thine  own  act  and  on  the  world. 

— Tennyson. 

The  three  fundamental  faculties  of  the  soul,  we  have 
now  seen,  are  intellect,  sensibility,  and  will.  This  is 
their  logical  order  of  action,  though  they  are  inter- 
blended  and  simultaneous  in  their  activities,  one  of 
them  usually  being  dominant  at  a  time  in  conscious- 
ness. The  human  soul  is  thus  a  three-cycle  engine. 
Intellect  acts  first  and  produces  thought;  thought 
kindles  feeling;  and  feeling  moves  the  will.    The  action 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL         61 

of  the  will  normally  results  aud  rests  in  a  state  of 
satisfaction,  which  is  the  end  of  the  particular  move- 
ment. But  this  state  or  end  at  once  suggests  or  stirs 
another  movement  of  the  intellect,  and  then  the  process 
begins  all  over  again;  and  thus  the  mind  keeps  turn- 
ing through  its  cycle  and  runs  its  endless  round.  The 
ob.^ervance  of  this  order  is  of  the  first  importance  in 
practical  psychology  and  especially  in  the  psychology 
of  religion,  and  we  shall  have  frequent  occasion  to  refer 
to  it. 

II.    Some  General  Characteristics  of  the  Soul 

There  are  some  general  characteristics  of  the  soul 
that  should  be  noted  as  they  have  an  important  bear- 
ing on  our  subject. 

I.  Habit. — A  habit  is  an  acquired  fixed  way  of  act- 
ing. Anything  acting  in  a  certain  way  once  tends  to 
act  in  the  same  way  again.  A  piece  of  paper  folded  on 
a  line  forms  a  crease  along  which  it  folds  more  easily 
a  second  time;  and  all  material  substances  are  sub- 
ject to  this  law.  A  new  machine  runs  more  smoothly 
after  it  has  been  in  use  for  a  time,  for  all  its  parts  are 
adjusted  to  the  action.  A  new  suit  of  clothes  grows  to 
fit  the  figure  and  follows  all  its  movements  and  thus 
becomes  comfortable.  Organic  l)eings  are  more  pli- 
able than  inorganic  substances  and  quickly  fall  into 
grooves  of  action.  The  human  body  is  highly  plastic 
and  subject  to  habits.  Muscles  and  nerves,  having 
acted  in  one  way  once,  tend  to  repeat  the  action,  which 
in  time  grows  automatic.  It  is  thus  we  learn  to  walk, 
speak,  attend  to  our  work  and  carry  on  all  the  com- 
ph'X  routine  aflairs  of  life.  Tlie  skill  of  the  performer, 
such  as  the  i»ianist,  is  a  remarkable  example  of  com- 
plex habits  that  are  wrought  into  the  very  texture  of 


62         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

the  nerves  and  muscles  so  that  they  come  to  act  uncon- 
sciously. 

These  bodily  habits  have  their  origin  in  the  soul, 
which  is  an  organism  highly  plastic  to  the  formation 
and  retention  of  habits.  The  association  of  ideas,  hav- 
ing linked  two  or  more  ideas  together  once,  tends  to 
keep  them  together  so  that  the  recurrence  of  one  is  apt 
to  suggest,  or  to  excite  the  neural  connections  of,  the 
others,  and  thus  they  appear  together  habitually. 
Memory  is  a  matter  of  habit.  The  oftener  we  revive  a 
memory  the  more  firmly  it  is  fixed  in  the  mind  and  the 
more  readily  it  responds  to  our  call.  Judgments  tend 
to  repeat  themselves  and  grow  into  fixed  opinions  or 
beliefs  or  prejudices.  Emotions  form  habits.  When 
we  feel  a  certain  way  once  the  same  feeling  on  a  similar 
excitation  again  stirs  or  floods  the  soul,  and  thus  emo- 
tional habits  are  formed.  The  will  wears  itself  into 
grooves  of  action  along  w^hich  it  slips  in  unconscious 
smoothness  and  ease.  Moral  and  spiritual  experiences 
are  repeated  and  thus  character  grows.  Under  this  law 
of  habit  the  whole  body  and  soul  are  ploughed  and 
grooved  into  a  system  of  habits  by  the  automatic  action 
of  which  we  live.  By  far  the  greater  part  of  all  our 
activities,  language,  learning,  conduct  and  character, 
work  and  w^orship,  becomes  cast  and  cooled  in  the 
mould  of  habit. 

This  fact  is  of  tremendous  importance  in  life.  It  re- 
sults in  the  skill  and  often  the  marvellous  perfection 
with  which  we  do  our  work.  The  pianist  strikes  the 
instrument  with  rapidity  the  eye  cannot  follow  and  yet 
no  finarer  misses  a  kev.  At  first  these  movements  are 
made  with  awkward  and  painful  effort,  and  the  per- 
fection is  the  result  of  the  long-continued  practice  by 
which  the  nerves  and  muscles  are  trained  into  auto- 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUt        63 

matic  action.  At  the  same  time  habits  take  over  these 
acquired  activities  and  release  the  attention  and  all  the 
faculties  of  the  mind  and  organs  of  the  body  to  do 
other  work.  We  thus  walk  without  paying  any  atten- 
tion to  our  steps.  If  we  had  to  think  about  every  step 
and  calculate  the  problem  of  maintaining  our  balance 
we  could  not  do  anything  else;  but  we  hand  the  whole 
matter  of  walking  over  to  habit  and  give  our  mind  and 
eyes  to  other  things.  This  is  an  enormous  economy  of 
our  time  and  attention  and  enables  us  to  do  many 
things  at  once,  while  we  give  our  conscious  attention 
and  effort  to  the  novel  situations  and  complex  prob- 
lems constantly  arising  which  habit  cannot  solve. 
Habit  thus  enables  us  to  capitalize  our  past  actions 
and  acquired  skill  in  an  invested  fund  of  autonomy  that 
carries  on  the  general  work  of  life.  Habit  keeps  the 
world  turning  on  its  accustomed  axis  and  is  "  the 
enormous  flywheel  of  society,  its  most  precious  con- 
servative agent." 

This  fact  of  course  is  fraught  with  the  greatest  good 
and  evil.  Good  habits  are  steel  tracks  on  which  we 
drive  our  life  with  speed  and  safety,  or  they  are  grooves 
in  which  life  slips  in  unconscious  smoothness.  They 
are  the  means  of  our  liberty,  giving  to  life  its  freest 
movement  and  its  fullest  joy.  On  the  other  hand,  evil 
habits  bind  us  in  slavery.  They  lead  us  into  lines  of 
action  which,  however  pleasant  at  first,  at  last  become 
our  bondage  and  bitterness  from  which  we  cannot 
escayx}  with  strong  crying  and  tears.  The  moral  and 
spiritual  imjmrtance  of  habits  is  thus  coulirmcd  by  and 
is  grounded  in  their  psychology. 

2.  Character. — Character  is  the  system  of  habits  we 
have  formed;  or,  as  John  Stuart  Mill  expressed  it,  "a 
character  is  a  completely  fashioneil  will."    Its  original 


64.         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

elements  are  the  raw  materials  of  the  inherited  con- 
stitution, and  these  are  creative  and  decisive  in  deter- 
mining the  general  limitation  and  tone  of  character. 
Bodily  constitution,  emotional  temperament,  vigour  of 
mind  and  energy  of  will  are  largely  dependent  on  this 
native  endowment,  and  one  cannot  escape  this  limita- 
tion any  more  than  he  can  escape  from  the  grasp  of 
gravitation.  Nevertheless,  character  is  the  form  into 
which  these  elements  are  slowly  moulded,  and  this  proc- 
ess is  subject  to  our  choice  and  action.  Every  thought 
and  emotion,  choice  and  deed,  deposits  an  atom  of  habit 
in  the  soul;  bends  and  disposes  the  soul  to  act  in 
that  way  again,  and  thus  slowly  shapes  and  hardens 
it  into  a  system  of  habits  that  is  its  character  and  life. 
This  law  is  expressed  in  the  familiar  saying:  Sow  a 
thought  and  reap  a  deed ;  sow  a  deed  and  reap  a  habit ; 
sow  a  habit  and  reap  a  character;  sow  a  character  and 
reap  a  destiny. 

The  character,  being  thus  once  formed,  is  the  seed- 
plot  of  the  soul  out  of  which  its  thoughts  and  actions 
sprout.  It  is  the  focal  reflector  that  gathers  into  itself 
all  the  aflSnities  and  associations  of  the  soul  and  con- 
centrates them  on  its  motives  and  ends,  causing  them 
to  blaze  up  into  vividness  and  to  glow  with  heat  and 
power.  As  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  is  he. 
An  American  is  an  American  in  all  his  political  and 
national  ideals,  and  a  Jew  is  a  Jew  down  to  the  last 
fibre  of  his  being.  A  workingman  sees  all  things  in 
the  light  of  his  class  interest,  and  a  professional  man 
thinks  in  the  terms  of  his  profession.  Every  one's 
vision  and  view^s  are  coloured  by  his  interests  and 
prejudices  and  passions,  or  according  to  his  party  and 
religion.  Knowing  the  character  of  a  man  we  can  pre- 
dict what  he  will  believe  and  do,  and  having  his  char- 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL         65 

acter  we  have  the  key  by  which  we  can  unlock  his  mind 
and  move  his  will. 

This  looks  as  though  character  constricts  the  freedom 
of  the  soul  and  finally  destroys  it.  It  does  strongly 
commit  the  soul  to  action  in  accordance  with  its  own 
nature.  But  character  is  itself  the  product  of  free 
will  and  is  the  crystallized  deposit  of  all  the  volitions 
of  the  past  of  the  soul.  The  soul  stores  up  its  own  free 
action  and  thus  gains  permanence  and  accumulated 
power  for  its  freedom.  Even  its  evil  choices  were  free, 
however  they  at  last  bind  it.  The  soul  is  ever  repeat- 
ing and  perpetuating  the  choices  of  the  past  and  is  thus 
eating  of  the  fruit  of  its  own  doings.  This  adds  im- 
mensely to  the  responsibility  and  solemnity  of  our 
choices:  they  are  the  seeds  of  future  character  and 
destiny.  Therefore  psychology  says,  with  Goethe : 
"  Choose  well ;  your  choice  is  brief,  but  endless." 

But  some  freedom  remains  to  change  even  the  most 
rigid  character.  It  is  not  cast  in  an  iron  mould  which 
cannot  be  modified  in  shape  or  be  broken  up  and  recast. 
It  is  true  that  ordinarilv  character  cannot  be  sud- 
denly  and  completely  changed  by  a  sheer  act  of  will, 
though  sometimes  there  may  be  poured  into  it  a  fiery 
thought  or  molten  emotion  that  will  melt  it,  a  powerful 
affection  that  will  expel  every  contrary  thought  and 
feeling.  But  ordinarily  character  can  be  slowly  modi- 
fied and  may  in  time  be  radically  reconstructed.  Tliis 
leaves  open  the  road  of  hope  to  reform  and  conversion. 

3.  Individuality. — Every  soul  has  its  own  nature 
and  acijuired  character.  As  no  two  leaves  are  cut 
after  the  same  pattern,  or  petals  djed  with  the  same 
hue,  and  as  one  star  differeth  from  another  star  in  glory, 
so  much  more  are  no  two  snch  complex  and  plastic 
organisms  as  human  souls  alike  in  mould  and  mood, 


66         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

disposition  and  temperament.  Heredity  is  infinitely 
complex,  running  its  roots  back  through  thousands  of 
generations,  and  each  of  countless  ancestors  has  poured 
a  tiny  stream  of  blood  drops  into  every  one's  veins. 
Environment  and  training  and  all  the  myriad  influ- 
ences that  mould  the  individual  are  never  the  same  in 
any  two  persons  and  endlessly  vary.  As  a  result  we 
have  all  the  types  and  individualities  of  nature  and 
character  that  make  up  our  human  world. 

This  fact  has  important  psychological  applications, 
especially  in  education  and  religion.  In  the  school,  ten 
scholars  in  a  class  may  be  taught  to  spell  ten  words 
and  they  may  all  spell  them  alike  and  correctly,  and 
then  the  teacher  may  think  that  he  has  standardized 
his  work  and  put  these  ten  children  through  the  same 
process.  But  what  a  different  world  of  meaning  each 
of  these  ten  w^ords  suggests  to  each  of  these  ten 
scholars?  A  word  may  be  a  meaningless  sign  to  one 
scholar,  and  to  another  it  may  call  up  a  cluster  of  asso- 
ciations that  are  good  and  noble,  rich  and  inspiring, 
and  to  still  another  associations  that  are  painful  or 
evil  and  degrading.  Each  mind  of  the  ten  swarms  with 
its  own  suggestions  as  it  spells  each  word,  and  this 
content  of  meaning  is  the  thing  that  counts  rather  than 
the  form  of  the  spelling.  The  same  story  may  be  told 
to  the  class,  but  it  divides  into  as  many  streams  of 
suggestion  and  becomes  as  many  stories  as  there  are 
children  listening.  The  telling  may  seem  to  effect  the 
same  result  in  all,  but  any  such  view  sees  no  deeper 
than  the  faces  of  the  children,  and  not  as  deep  as  that, 
for  their  very  faces  will  show  the  discerning  teacher 
that  they  are  hearing  or  reconstructing  different  tales. 

Children  differ  endlessly  in  the  very  structure  of 
their   minds    and    senses.     Some   see   things   vividly, 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL         67 

others  hear  them,  and  others  may  derive  their  chief 
impressions  from  sensations  of  touch.  These  children 
live  in  different  worlds  and  need  different  training. 
The  visualist  may  seem  dumb  when  the  auditory  sense 
is  addressed,  and  conversely.  Children  are  often 
thought  to  be  slow  or  unintelligent,  when  the  difficulty 
is  in  the  ability  of  the  teacher  to  perceive  their  mental 
type  and  adapt  the  teaching  to  their  needs.  These  dif- 
ferences in  individuality,  thus  illustrated  in  children, 
are  multiplied  and  magnified  in  adults,  in  whom  in- 
herited natures  and  acquired  characters  are  thus 
brought  out  into  sharper  relief. 

These  varying  types  of  individuality  in  life  should  be 
respected.  Every  one  has  an  inalienable  right  to  his 
own  individuality,  in  so  far  as  it  is  normal  and  not  in 
need  of  correction  from  abnormality  and  perversion. 
We  are  strongly  disposed  to  forget  this  fundamental 
right  in  connection  with  the  character  and  specially 
the  social  customs  and  political  and  religious  beliefs 
and  practices  of  others.  We  unconsciously,  or  it  may 
be  consciously,  regard  ourselves  as  normal  moulds  and 
authoritative  models  and  think  that  others,  in  so  far 
as  they  differ  from  us,  are  in  danger  of  the  judgment, 
at  least  of  our  censure  and  pity.  But  this  is  running 
counter  to  the  whole  constitution  of  the  world.  When 
we  think  that  others  ought  to  be  like  us  we  forget  that 
one  of  our  kind  is  enough.  Any  suppression  of  diver- 
sity and  constriction  of  i)eople  to  one  mould  in  life 
would  be  an  enormous  impoverishment  of  the  world, 
obliterating  its  variety  and  pictures(iueness  and  reduc- 
ing it  to  a  dead  level  of  monotony  and  gi-eatly  impair- 
ing Its  efficiency.  We  must  leave  room  in  our  views  of 
life  for  all  the  infinite  individuality  with  which  our 
human  world  is  stamped.    Such  variety  is  the  beauty 


68         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

and  glory  of  our  life.  ''  To  give  room  for  wandering 
is  it  that  the  world  is  made  so  wide." 

4.  The  Subconsciousness. — The  subconsciousness  is 
that  part  of  our  mental  life  that  lies  below  the  threshold 
of  consciousness.  Our  consciousness  is  subject  to  great 
fluctuations  in  its  volume  and  level.  It  rises  in  time 
of  excitement  to  surging  heights  and  fills  and  over- 
flows all  the  banks  of  the  soul,  and  at  other  times  it 
sinks  to  lower  levels  of  quietness  and  dulness  and 
drowsiness  and  at  length  falls  below  the  level  of  con- 
sciousness in  sleep.  But  that  all  mental  activity  does 
not  cease  in  sleep  is  obvious  from  our  dreams.  All 
kinds  of  mental  processes  go  on  at  the  lower  level  of 
subconsciousness.  Problems  that  remain  unsolved 
when  we  go  to  sleep  sometimes  appear  to  be  worked  out 
to  their  conclusion  when  we  awake.  These  activities 
in  the  subconsciousness  are  so  dim  and  memory  of  them 
is  so  frail  and  evanescent  that  we  have  no  self-con- 
sciousness of  them  at  the  time  and  no  memory  of  them 
afterward. 

The  whole  life  of  the  soul  above  this  threshold  sinks 
down  into  and  is  preserved  in  the  subconsciousness. 
Memory  has  its  storehouse  in  this  deep.  All  our  mental 
associations  and  habits  are  packed  away  in  its  pigeon- 
holes or  receptacles  and  emerge  at  call  from  these  hid- 
den chambers.  There  is  reason  to  think  that  this  sub- 
conscious life  of  the  soul  is  large  compared  with  its 
conscious  life.  As  seven-eighths  of  an  iceberg  is  under 
the  surface  of  the  sea,  so  the  greater  part  of  our  life  is 
submerged  in  these  depths.  The  towering  skyscraper 
has  five  or  six  stories  under  the  ground  in  which  is 
located  the  machinery  that  lights  and  heats  and  runs 
the  whole  building;  so  in  this  underground  world  of 
the  soul  is  located  the  machinery  that  operates  all  our 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL         69 

conscious   activities.     This   is   the   night   life   of   the 
soul,  full  of  shadows  and  ghosts  and  stars. 

The  subconsciousness  plays  a  part  of  immense  impor- 
tance in  our  life.  It  is  the  storehouse  into  which  our 
conscious  activities  are  packed  away  so  that  nothing  is 
ever  lost  out  of  our  life.  Up  out  of  this  huge  cellar 
come  swarming  through  its  trapdoors  and  back  stair- 
ways of  memory  and  association  the  shadows  of  the 
past  to  reenforce  the  present.  Suggestion  has  the 
power  of  tapping  this  hidden  reservoir  and  letting  it 
gu3h  up  in  jets  of  thought  and  feeling.  The  most  pene- 
trating approach  to  and  powerful  control  over  a  man 
are  often  effected  through  an  indirect  appeal  to  his 
subconsciousness,  w^hich  touches  him  below  the  level  of 
his  conscious  prejudices  and  opposition  and  wins  and 
masters  him  before  he  knows  it.  Everything  that  we 
put  into  our  life  will  sooner  'or  later  come  out  of  our 
life.  Long  years  afterward  on  the  most  unexpected  oc- 
casion and  in  the  most  startling  ways,  "  old,  unhappy, 
far-off  things,  and  battles  long  ago  "  will  come  up  out 
of  this  dark  chamber  to  strengthen  and  comfort  us,  or, 
like  ghosts  out  of  their  graves,  to  trouble  us.  The 
admonition  of  psychology  at  this  point  is :  "  Keep  thy 
heart  with  all  diligence;  for  out  of  it  are  the  issues  of 
life.'^ 

All  buried  life  still  holds  a  vital  spark. 

The  memory's  mystic  touch  unbinds  its  deep 

Oblivion  and  starts  it  fortii,  gay  with 

Its  ancient  revelries,  or  trngic  with 

The  blood  and  tears  of  old  forgotten  crimes. 

Our  brains  are  living  tond)s  in  which  arc  sealed 

The  thoughts  and  deeds  of  gf'nerations  gone; 

And  these  heredities  still  live  in  us 

In  many  a  masterful  or  infirm  trait. 

Our  past  is  buried  there;  and  though  it  seems 


70         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

To  sleep  it  will  awake  and  plague  us  with 
Fell  retribution's  gnawing  tooth,  or  bless 
Us  with  its  resurrected  strength  and  peace. 

5.  Growth. — The  soul  is  a  product  of  growth.  It 
does  not  leap  into  being  full-forraed,  but  begins  as  a 
germ  and  slowly  passes  through  many  stages  into 
maturity. 

Any  growing  thing  is  a  world  of  wonder.  A  seed 
may  be  microscopic  in  size  and  seem  so  in  significance, 
yet  that  minute  speck  is  a  vast  world  or  cosmos  of  order 
and  plan  and  purpose  in  which  mysterious  physical, 
chemical,  and  vital  elements  and  energies  are  packed  in 
dormant  latency.  With  the  first  breath  of  spring  or 
other  quickening  influence  their  slumbering  powers 
awake  and  the  seed  becomes  a  marvellous  workshop  or 
loom  in  which  invisible  fingers  are  throwing  infinitesi- 
mal shuttles  that  carrv  vital  threads  of  life  and  weave 
its  v^^onderful  web  according  to  its  preordained  pattern. 
Embryologists  peer  through  their  microscopes  into  this 
world  and  describe  processes  so  intricate  and  exquisite 
and  inscrutable  as  to  excite  our  utmost  astonishment > 
and  make  us  dumbly  feel  how  great  is  the  marvel  and 
mystery  of  life. 

Once  started  the  process  of  growth  goes  on  inces- 
santly. The  tiny  seed  becomes  the  child  of  the  uni- 
verse. The  earth  cradles  it,  the  soil  and  showers  nurse 
it,  the  sun  smiles  upon  it,  and  every  star  lends  it  a 
friendly  ray.  It  throws  out  rootlets  and  filaments  that 
lay  hold  of  the  globe  and  the  whole  heavens.  Atom  by 
atom  it  grows,  gathering  raw  materials  and  transform- 
ing them  by  its  subtle  chemistry  into  sap  and  spinning 
them  into  tissue  and  weaving  them  into  leaf  and  blos- 
som and  distilling  and  crystallizing  them  into  golden 
wheat  or  rosy  apple.    And  thus  the  minute  seed  be- 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SOUL        71 

comes  the  rosebush  or  fruit-laden  tree,  a  stately  palm 
or  a  giant  redwood  that  stands  three  hundred  feet  tall 
and  was  old  when  Caesar  was  born  and  has  defied  the 
storms  of  thirty  centuries.  Or  in  the  germ  the  life 
principle  begins  to  sketch  an  animal,  with  a  few  swift 
strokes  outlining  spinal  column  and  limbs,  heart  and 
brain,  and  in  due  time  the  same  process  of  growth  pro- 
duces an  insect  or  bird,  or  a  man,  even  a  Plato  or 
a  Shakespeare. 

The  human  soul  also  starts  as  a  seed  or  germ  en- 
dowed with  the  same  absorbent  and  expansive  nature. 
It  begins  as  a  bundle  of  latencies,  dormant  faculties 
that  lie  folded  up  and  submerged  deep  in  the  uncon- 
scious or  subconscious  state.  Gradually  they  are 
stirred  into  activity  by  quickening  influences  and  find 
their  appropriate  sustenance.  At  first  the  soul  is  an 
undifferentiated  mass  of  dim  feeling  and  only  slowly 
does  it  unfold  into  distinct  faculties  of  thought  and 
sensibility  and  will.  In  its  early  stages  of  development 
it  is  wholly  absorbed  in  its  senses,  drawn  objectively 
into  the  outer  world,  and  later  it  begins  to  be  aware  of 
the  inner  world  of  itself.  Sight  grows  into  insight, 
and  consciousness  into  self-consciousness  and  con- 
science. It  develops  perception,  concepts,  judgment, 
reasoning,  memory  and  imagination,  forms  habits,  sees 
ideals  and  builds  them  into  realities,  makes  choices, 
carves  character  and  determines  destiny,  follows  the 
gleam  of  visions  and  turns  them  into  victories.  And 
thus  the  babe  becomes  the  child  and  man,  the  scholar 
and  philosopher,  the  saint  or  the  lost  soul. 

This  process  of  growth  lias  roots  running  back  through 
the  developmont  and  origin  of  (he  race  and  on  backward 
through  the  f)rocess  of  evolulion  into  th(»  <lini  vistas  of 
the  past.    The  human  soul  has  an  inconceivably  ancient 


72         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

heredity,  but  its  real  descent  whether  near  or  remote 
is  from  God,  the  Father  of  spirits.  Its  faculties  have 
been  fashioned,  its  instincts  formed,  and  its  constitu- 
tion framed  through  a  long  process,  and  thus  it  has 
been  shaped  and  moulded  into  harmony  with  its  en- 
vironment. Its  whole  history  has  been  stored  up  in  its, 
constitution  and  every  part  of  its  being  bears  the  marks 
of  its  ancient  origin  and  the  battles  through  which  it 
has  come    And  so  its 

Life  is  not  as  idle  ore. 

But  iron  dug  from  central  gloom, 
And  heated  hot  in  burning  fears, 
And  dipt  in  baths  of  hissing  tears, 

And  batter'd  by  the  shocks  of  doom 

To  shape  and  use. 

Growth  is  thus  stamped  upon  every  part  of  our  life 
and  is  one  of  its  most  prominent  and  important  as- 
pects. It  enters  deeply  into  the  development  and 
training  of  all  the  faculties  and  processes  of  the  soul 
w^hich  we  have  been  considering  and  is  especially  im- 
portant in  education  and  religion. 

Having  behind  us  this  general  background  of  psy- 
chology, we  are  now  prepared  to  follow  its  application 
in  the  special  field  of  religion. 


CHAPTER  III 

THE    PSYCHOLOGY   OF   THE    MORAL   AND 
RELIGIOUS  NATURE 


T 


HE  moral  and  religious  nature  is  the  general 
constitution  of  the  soul  in  its  reaction  towards 
moral  and  religious  objects. 


I.    The  Moral  Nature  of  the  S'oul 

The  moral  nature  of  the  soul  is  its  attitude  and 
action  towards  right  and  wrong. 

I.  Conscience. — Conscience  is  the  faculty  that  deals 
with  the  moral  qualities  of  objects.  Conscience  is  con- 
sciousness acting  on  the  distinction  between  right  and 
wrong.  The  word  means  the  knowledge  one  has  with 
himself  and  describes  the  most  intimate  knowledge  one 
has  of  his  inmost  self.  This  distinction  of  right  and 
wrong  is  a  unique  quality  which  is  not  found  in  ma- 
terial things  or  in  organic  beings  below  the  level  of 
personality.  A  stone  or  a  star,  a  vegetable  or  one  of 
the  lower  animals,  has  no  moral  nature.  It  cannot  be 
or  do  either  riglit  or  wrong:  it  simply  is  and  is  not 
subject  to  praise  or  blame.  Though  we  do  praise  or 
blame  some  of  the  higher  animals,  such  as  a  dog  or  a 
horse,  yet  we  do  not  really  regard  them  as  truly  moral 
beings  subject  to  these  judgments.  It  is  only  in  the 
field  of  personality  that  this  quality  is  found;  and  even 
in  this  field  so  far  as  acts  and  states  are  wholly  in- 
stinctive and  physical  they  are  not  regarded  as  moral ; 
only  acts  which  ii-V(;(Vx;  icciivcs  anJ  c  lOu-e  are  r^er^n  and 
felt  by  llie  coascieuce  as  right  or  wrong. 

78 


74        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

There  are  two  elements  in  conscience  so  that  it  is  a 
complex  faculty  consisting  of  an  intellectual  and  an 
emotional  factor.  The  intellectual  factor  is  the  per- 
ception of  an  act  as  conforming  or  not  conforming  to 
a  law  or  standard  of  right  and  wrong.  The  feeling  that 
attends  this  perception  is  a  sense  that  we  ought  to  ap- 
prove and  do  the  right  and  disapprove  and  refuse  to  do 
the  wrong.  The  perception  is  an  act  of  judgment  and 
is  subject  to  all  the  variation  and  error  of  human  judg- 
ment. The  feeling  of  obligation  is  a  constitutional  and 
intuitive  reaction  that  is  constant  and  universal  in 
human  nature.  It  stirs  into  action  whenever  the  mind 
perceives  the  distinction  between  right  and  wrong  and 
acts  automatically.  The  intellectual  perception  is  the 
variable  and  the  feeling  of  ought  or  ought  not  is  the 
constant  element  in  conscience.  The  intellectual  judg- 
ment, which  determines  the  moral  object,  is  the  ob- 
jective and  the  feeling  is  the  subjective  side  of  con- 
science. 

A  vital  and  endless  subject  of  controversy  in  ethics 
is  the  question  as  to  what  makes  a  moral  object  right 
or  wrong.  One  theory  is  that  it  is  pleasure  that  makes 
an  object  right  and  pain  that  makes  it  wrong,  so  that 
pleasure  and  pain  coincide  with  good  and  evil.  This 
theory  is  contradicted  by  our  moral  intuition  which 
does  not  perceive  and  decide  that  objects  are  right  or 
wrong  according  as  they  give  pleasure  or  pain;  and 
it  runs  squarely  against  many  of  the  facts  of  life.  We 
obey  duty  regardless  of  its  consequences  in  pleasure  or 
pain,  and  the  martyr  or  the  soldier  that  lays  down  his 
life  is  certainly  not  impelled  to  this  act  of  devotion  to 
principle  or  patriotism  for  pleasure  either  for  himself 
or  for  others. 

Yet  there  is  a  measure  of  truth  in  this  theory,  as 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  MORAL  NATURE     75 

there  is  in  all  theories  that  gain  any  currency.  Right 
does  produce  pleasure  and  wrong  produces  pain  in  the 
large  and  in  the  long  run;  and  if  pleasure  is  widened 
so  as  to  include  all  satisfactions,  especially  the  high- 
est spiritual  satisfactions  of  the  soul,  the  theory  ap- 
proaches the  truth.  Yet  even  in  this  sense  the  theory 
reverses  right  relations,  for  pleasure  and  pain  are  not 
the  cause  of  right  and  wrong,  but  right  and  wrong  are 
the  cause  of  pleasure  and  pain.  Pleasure  and  pain  are 
the  consequences  and  not  the  causes  of  right  and  wrong. 
Pleasure  is  the  music  that  floats  off  the  harp  of  life 
when  it  is  in  tune  and  properly  played.  The  harp  pro- 
duces the  music,  and  not  the  music  the  harp.  It  is  our 
business  to  take  care  of  the  harp  and  obey  its  laws, 
and  then  the  music  will  come. 

A  second  theory  of  the  nature  of  virtue  is  the  utili- 
tarian doctrine  that  the  right  is  the  useful  or  that 
which  promotes  life,  and  wrong  is  the  hurtful  or  that 
which  hinders  life.  This  theory  approaches  the  truth 
much  closer  than  the  hedonistic  or  pleasure  theory, 
for  again,  when  taken  in  the  long  run,  right  does  al- 
ways promote  life  and  wrong  hinders  and  injures  it. 
Even  the  martyr  or  the  soldier,  when  his  judgment  is 
correct,  promotes  human  life  and  even  his  own  highest 
life  by  his  sacrilice.  But  when  this  is  granted  the  fact 
remains  that  the  moral  quality  of  an  object  is  directly 
discerned  and  felt  as  an  intuitive  act  and  is  not  the 
result  of  calculating  its  useful  results.  We  feel  the 
obligation  to  approve  and  do  the  right  when  its  per- 
sonal consequences  involve  us  in  great  loss  and  pain. 
We  often  feel  and  say  that  we  must  follow  our  con- 
science let  the  consecjuencea  be  what  tliey  may.  The 
results  of  an  action  often  guide  the  judgment  in  apply- 
ing the  principle  of  right  and  wrong,  but  they  do  not 


76        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

constitute  that  principle.  The  intellectual  factor  in 
conscience  is  an  act  of  judgment  and  reasoning  which 
should  use  all  means  in  coming  to  its  conclusion,  and 
among  these  means  are  consequences  of  utility;  and 
when  utility  is  made  inclusive  of  all  good  up  to  the 
highest  holiness,  then  utility  and  right  always  coincide. 

The  true  object  of  right  is  worth  or  value,  and  worth 
is  excellence  of  being  either  as  a  means  to  some  higher 
end  or  as  an  end  in  itself.     Conscience  intuit'^e|^ 
judges  worth  as  right  and  obligatory  and  the  absence 
and  opposite  of  worth  as  wrong. 

2.  The  Scale  of  Values. — The  word  right  etymologi- 
cally  means  that  which  is  straight;  a  right  line  is  a 
straight  line.  The  word  wrong  is  only  another  spell- 
ing of  the  word  wrung  and  means  that  which  is  twisted 
or  crooked.  Both  of  these  words  thus  imply  a  standard 
to  which  moral  objects  conform  or  fail  to  conform  and 
thereby  are  right  or  wrong. 

This  standard  or  law  is  a  scale  of  values  on  which 
acts  ai^3  arran^ea  according  to  the  degree  of  their 
w^orth.  Some  acts  are  of  higher  w^orth  and  obligation 
than  others.  These  objects  on  the  scale  may  conflict 
with  one  another  and  then  they  compete  for  our  ap- 
proval. A  moral  act  is  always  a  preference  and  choice 
of  one  object  on  the  scale  of  value  in  competition  with 
another,  of  a  higher  with  a  lower.  When  we  choose  a 
lower  in  preference  to  a  higher  end,  we  do  wrong,  and 
when  we  choose  a  higher  in  preference  to  a  lower  we  do 
right. 

Dr.  James  Martineau,  in  his  Types  of  Ethical  Theory, 
has  worked  out  this  view  at  great  length,  and  he  sum- 
marizes his  results  as  follows :  "  We  are  now  prepared 
for  an  exact  definition  of  Eight  and  Wrong,  which  will 
assume  this  form:  Every  action  is  RIGHT  which,  in 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  MORAL  NATURE     77 

presence  of  a  lower  principle,  follows  a  higher;  every 
action  is  WRONG  ivhich,  in  presence  of  a  higJier  prin- 
ciple, folloivs  a  lower.  Thus,  the  act  attributed  to 
Regulus,  in  returning  back  to  death  at  Carthage,  was 
right,  because  the  reverence  for  veracity  whence  it 
sprung  is  a  higher  principle  than  any  fear  or  personal 
affection  which  might  have  suggested  a  different  course, 
and  of  which  we  tacitly  conceive  as  competing  with  the 
former.  And  the  act  of  St.  Peter  in  denying  Christ 
was  wrong,  because  the  fear  to  which  he  yielded  was 
lower  than  the  personal  affection  and  reverence  for 
truth  which  he  disobe^'ed.  The  act  of  the  missionaries 
of  mercy,  whether  of  a  Florence  Nightingale  to  the 
stricken  bodies,  or  of  a  Columban,  a  Boniface,  a  Living- 
stone, to  the  imperilled  souls  of  men,  is  right,  because 
the  compassion  which  inspires  it  is  nobler  than  any 
love  of  ease  or  of  self-culture  which  would  resist  it. 
The  act  of  the  manufacturer  of  adulterated  or  falsely 
labelled  goods  is  wrong,  because  done  in  compliance 
with  an  inferior  incentive,  the  love  of  gain,  against  the 
protest  of  superiors,  good  faith  and  reverence  for 
truth.  This  definition  appears  to  me  to  have  the  ad- 
vantage of  simply  stating  what  passes  in  all  men's 
minds  when  they  use  words  whose  meaning  it  seeks  to 
unfold.  ...  No  constant  aim,  no  one  royal  faculty,  no 
contemplated  prej)onderance  of  happy  effects,  can  really 
be  found  in  all  good  action.  More  scope  for  variety  is 
felt  to  be  needed:  and  this  is  gained  as  soon  as  we  quit 
the  casuists'  attempt  to  draw  an  absolute  dividing  line 
between  good  and  bad,  and  i*ecognize  the  relative  and 
preferential  conditions  of  every  moral  probltMn."  ^ 

»  Types  of  FAhical  Theory,  Vol.  II,  pp.  270-271.  For  Bimilnr 
viewB  of  consfij-nce,  sot?  Dr.  Newman  Srnyth'fl  Christian  mhics, 
pp.  2.T-40.  Dr.  Rn.slidnirs  /.<»  Conscirnre  an  Emotion?  and  Pro- 
fessor G.  II.  Pulrner'ri  The  Nature  of  Uvodncat. 


78        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

Through  a  long  and  illuminating  discussion  Dr.  Mar- 
tineau  works  out  a  table  of  springs  or  motives  of  action 
according  to  their  relative  worth.  He  has  thirteen 
degrees  or  groups  of  value  on  his  scale.  At  the  bottom 
he  puts  vindictiveness  as  purely  evil  and  therefore  be- 
low the  zero  point  on  the  scale,  a  minus  quality.  Then 
he  places  in  their  order  the  organic  propensities  of 
love  of  ease  and  pleasure,  the  organic  appetites,  spon- 
taneous activity,  love  of  gain,  the  feelings  of  antipathy 
and  fear,  the  energies  of  love  of  power  and  culture, 
wonder  and  admiration,  the  parental  and  social  affec- 
tions, including  generosity  and  gratitude,  the  affection 
of  compassion,  and  at  the  top  veracity  and  reverence. 
Any  table  of  this  kind  is  a  matter  of  intellectual  judg- 
ment and  ethical  insight  and  is  subject  to  all  the  errors 
of  reasoning.  Perhaps  few  philosophical  moralists 
would  agree  with  Dr.  Martineau's  table  at  every  point, 
though  few  would  dispute  its  broad  outlines. 

In  the  light  of  this  table  we  see  how  men  differ  so 
widely  and  endlessly  in  their  moral  judgments.  Even 
when  a  scale  is  adopted  there  is  difiSculty  in  fixing  the 
point  on  it  where  any  particular  act  falls.  A  moral 
object  is  rarely  simple  and  pure,  but  is  mixed  in  its 
nature  and  motives,  and  this  involves  a  difference  of 
judgment  in  placing  it  on  the  scale.  And  so  men 
equally  intelligent  and  moral  will  vary  greatly  in  their 
estimate  of  the  same  action. 

But  a  deeper  difficulty  lies  in  the  fact  that  men  have 
widely  different  scales  and  indeed  every  one  has  his 
own  scale  of  values.  The  pantheist  and  the  theist,  the 
Buddhist  and  the  Christian,  the  anarchist  and  the 
royalist,  the  socialist  and  the  individualist,  the  laborer 
and  the  capitalist,  the  upright  man  and  the  criminal, 
have  very  different  scales  of  worth  in  their  minds. 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  MORAL  NATURE     79 

They  carry  these  scales  as  unconscious  measuring  rules 
engraven  on  their  hearts,  and  in  determining  moral 
questions  each  ai)plies  his  own  standard,  and  so  they 
reach  divergent  and  even  contradictory  conclusions. 

Another  aspect  of  the  same  fact  is  that  men  are 
themselves  developed  to  different  stages  or  degrees  on 
the  scale  of  moral  values.  Some  men  are  low  in  the 
scale,  ruled  mostly  by  instincts  and  selfish  interests  and 
are  blind  to  and  unconscious  of  its  high  degrees.  Other 
men  are  high  up  on  the  scale  and  are  ruled  by  the 
noblest  motives.  All  men  have  the  same  moral  sense  of 
obligation;  the  coarsest  conscience  feels  that  the  right 
ought  to  be  approved  and  obeyed  and  that  the  wrong 
ought  to  be  condemned  and  spurned.  All  men  proclaim 
their  allegiance  to  the  right,  but  they  differ  in  what 
they  regard  as  right  or  in  their  scales  of  value  and 
obligation.  In  fact,  every  man's  moral  nature  or  char- 
acter is  his  scale  by  which  he  measures  everything,  or 
it  is  the  lens  through  which  he  sees  all  things  and 
which  gives  to  them  its  colour.  These  intellectual  and 
emotional  and  moral  differences  in  men  array  them 
against  one  another  and  produce  the  confusion  in  ethi- 
cal judgments  and  the  dust  of  systems  and  of  creeds 
that  fill  the  world.  Conscience  is  constant  in  its  sub- 
jective feeling,  but  it  is  endlessly  variable  in  its  ob- 
jective judgments. 

Some  i)aradoxical  conclusions  follow  from  this  fact 
of  differing  standnnls.  A  thing  may  be  right  in  one 
age  or  stage  of  development  or  condition  of  circum- 
stances and  wrong  in  another.  Polygamy  and  slavery 
were  regarded  as  right  in  old  Testament  times,  and 
they  were  relatively  good  in  that  age,  for  they  were  a 
liigher  worth  as  compared  with  the  lower  doom  of  death 
which  was  in  a  still  earlier  and  lower  age  iutlicted  upon 


80         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

all  captives.  But  when  captives  were  spared  their 
lives  and  kept  as  polygamous  wives  and  slaves,  there 
was  an  advance  up  the  scale  and  these  things  were 
comparatively  right,  and  as  such  were  sanctioned  in  the 
Old  Testament.  In  the  New  Testament,  however,  they 
are  condemned  as  wrong  because  men  had  then  moved 
up  the  scale  in  their  moral  education.  Polygamy  and 
slavery  were  now  seen  to  be  a  lower  good  in  compari- 
son with  the  higher  good  of  monogamy  and  freedom. 
In  the  light  of  this  higher  scale  they  were  placed  under 
the  condemnation  of  Christian  ethics  and  in  time  were 
banished  from  Christian  lands.  The  world  has  made 
vast  advances  up  the  scale  during  the  centuries  and  is 
still  slowly  progressing.  Many  social  customs  and 
practices,  such  as  the  use  of  intoxicating  beverages  and 
railway  rebates  and  child  labour  in  factories,  that  our 
fathers  unquestioningly  approved  and  practised,  we 
now  regard  as  wrong.  The  advance  in  the  civiliza- 
tion, moralization,  and  Christianization  of  the  world 
will  take  place  along  this  line  of  moving  upward  on 
the  scale  of  moral  values. 

3.  The  Authority  of  Conscience. — Conscience  en- 
joins its  obligations  upon  us  with  authority.  Once  we 
have  discovered  or  determined  its  decision  we  are  bound 
to  obey  it.  This  is  an  intuitive  and  final  command  and 
obligation  which  no  other  authority  can  set  aside.  The 
voices  of  self-interest  and  passion  are  hushed  before 
it,  and  the  decrees  of  kings  and  emperors  are  puny 
and  impotent  in  its  presence. 

We  must  therefore  follow  our  conscience,  however 
wrong  it  may  be  in  its  judgment.  It  is  self-evident 
that  we  ought  to  do  what  we  believe  we  ought  to  do,  and 
to  do  what  we  believe  is  wrong  is  itself  wrong,  though 
the  act  should  turn  out  to  be  right  in  itself.    Paul  de- 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  MORAL  NATURE     81 

Glared  after  his  conversion,  "  I  verily  thought  with 
myself,  that  I  ought  to  do  many  things  contrary  to  the 
name  of  Jesus  of  Nazareth,"  and  he  was  right  in  so 
doing  as  long  as  his  conscience  told  him  he  should. 
The  heathen  mother,  casting  her  babe  into  the  Ganges 
as  a  sacrifice  to  her  god,  is  doing  right  from  her  point 
of  view,  dreadful  as  is  her  blindness.  But  her  error 
is  one  of  judgment  and  not  of  obedience  to  her  con- 
science. 

Though  it  is  our  duty  always  to  obey  conscience, 
yet  it  is  also  our  duty  to  enlighten  conscience,  and  we 
may  be  responsible  for  the  ignorance  and  perversity 
that  blind  it.  But  how  are  we  to  enlighten  and  guide 
conscience  so  that  it  will  speak  with  authority  that 
we  can  trust?  We  must  determine  and  apply  the  true 
scale  of  values.  An  act  which  is  low  on  this  scale  is 
right  when  it  does  not  compete  and  conilict  with  an  act 
higher  on  the  scale.  Physical  appetites  and  pleasures 
are  good  when  they  do  not  stand  in  the  way  of  higher 
goods.  This  process  runs  up  the  scale  from  the  bottom 
to  the  top. 

One  of  the  standards  or. degrees  of  worth  on  the 
scale  is  perfection  of  life.  Whatever  promotes  life  in 
its  health  and  happiness,  its  individual  and  social 
wealth  and  worth,  its  fulness  and  richness,  is  right  as 
compared  with  whatever  hinders  and  injures  life,  physi- 
cal and  moral,  personal  and  social.  Life  is  an  end  and 
worth  in  itself,  and  therefore  cominauds  and  binds 
conscience. 

But  is  there  not  something  of  higher  worth  and 
more  binding  upon  us  than  life  itself,  esiKJcialiy  per- 
sonal life?  There  are  some  ends  that  are  absolute  and 
ought  never  to  be  subordinated  to  other  ends.  These 
are  truth,  purity,  justice,  love,  and  reverence.    Truth 


82         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

is  the  commerce  of  our  minds  with  reality,  the  corre- 
spondence of  our  thoughts  with  things.  It  is  therefore 
the  primary  virtue  of  the  mind,  the  working  relation 
with  the  world,  the  foundation  of  life,  the  bond  of 
society,  the  intellectual  bloom  and  beauty  of  life.  A 
lie  is  always  so  much  lost  soul.  It  puts  us  out  of  right 
relations  with  the  world,  cuts  the  bond  of  fellowship, 
infiltrates  falseness  into  all  the  tissues  of  the  soul,  dis- 
locates life  at  its  centre  and  throws  it  out  of  relation 
around  its  whole  circumference.  We  intuitively  per- 
ceive the  absolute  worth  and  claim  of  truth  and  know 
that  we  should  seek  and  accept  and  obey  it.  The 
proverbs  of  many  languages  proclaim  its  supremacy 
and  inviolability.  ^'  Let  the  truth  prevail  though  the 
heavens  fall."  ^^  Buv  the  truth  and  sell  it  not."  "  The 
truth  is  always  right,"  said  Sophocles,  and  John  Locke 
wrote :  "  To  love  truth  for  truth's  sake  is  the  principal 
part  of  human  perfection  in  this  world,  and  the  seed- 
plot  of  all  other  virtues." 

Purity  on  its  negative  side  is  freedom  from  imper- 
fection, especially  from  moral  stain,  and  on  its  posi- 
tive side  it  is  the  soul's  self-affirmation  of  its  righteous- 
ness. It  is  the  essence  of  a  being  unadulterated  with 
inferior  elements,  the  soul  conscious  of  its  integrity 
and  keeping  itself  unspotted.  That  this  standard  of 
worth  is  binding  upon  us  and  cannot  be  outweighed 
by  any  other  end  and  motive  is  intuitively  perceived 
and  felt. 

Justice  and  love  are  the  supreme  altruistic  virtues. 
Justice  accords  to  every  one  his  due,  and  is  the  founda- 
tion of  right  social  relations.  It  guards  the  soul 
against  selfishness  and  affirms  the  equal  rights  of  all 
souls.  Love  goes  beyond  justice  and  pours  its  favour 
upon  others.    It  is  a  spirit  of  good  will  which  cherishes 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  MORAL  NATURE      83 

affection  for,  and  bestows  its  benefits,  its  sympathy, 
service,  and  its  very  self  on,  the  objects  of  its  favour. 
Love  is  the  finest  bloom  and  fragrance  of  the  soul,  its 
most  beautiful  grace,  and  its  greatest  felicity.  Justice 
and  love  are  not  mutually  exclusive,  but  are  really 
complementary  and  harmonious.  Justice,  when  per- 
fectly enlightened,  would  do  just  w^hat  love  would  do, 
and  love,  when  equally  enlightened,  would  do  just  what 
justice  would  do.  It  must  be  admitted,  however,  that 
there  is  a  larger  voluntary  element  in  love  and  that  the 
claims  of  justice  are  supreme,  and  therefore  love  must 
find  some  means  of  satisfying  justice  if  it  would  have 
its  way. 

Reverence  is  respect  for  higher  worth  and  runs  up 
into  and  culminates  in  worship,  a  word  which  is  only 
another  spelling  of  worthship  and  expresses  our  sense 
of  the  worth  of  God.  God  is  the  sum  of  all  j^erfection, 
the  Absolute  Good,  and  therefore  commands  the  high- 
est and  ultimate  sovereignty  over  our  souls.  All  our 
judgments  and  insights  and  feelings  converge  and 
climax  in  the  inmost  aflirmation  of  our  souls  that  "  we 
ought  to  obey  God  rather  than  men."  We  therefore 
express  the  authority  of  conscience  as  follows:  We 
should  ever  obey  the  voice  of  conscience  as  expressed  in 
our  sense  of  right  and  duty  when  enlightened  and 
guided  by  perfection  of  life,  truth,  purity,  justice  and 
love,  and  worship. 

Conscience  thus  sits  on  the  throne  of  life  and  wears 
the  crown  of  sovereignty  over  all  ends  and  motives.  It 
overtops  and  dominates  all  the  plains  of  life  as  the 
Alps  overshadow  the  hills  and  vaUcys  lying  around 
their  feet.  Its  slopes  and  summits  rise  before  the  soul 
as  majestic  white  visions  that  command  our  reverence 
and  obedience.    Its  decisions  take  precedence  over  every 


S4i        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

other  claim,  and  life  itself  must  not  be  counted  dear 
in  its  presence.  It  is  the  battle-field  on  which  are 
fought  the  real  conflicts  and  issues  of  life,  and  all 
the  outer  battles  of  the  world,  Waterloo  and  Gettys- 
burg, are  only  echoes  from  its  inner  shocks  and  doom. 
It  is  the  real  heroism  and  triumph  of  the  soul,  or  its 
tragedy  and  shame.  It  crowns  man  with  glory  and 
honour  and  makes  him  but  little  lower  than  God. 

Stern  Daughter  of  the  Voice  of  God! 

Stern  Lawgiver !  yet  thou  dost  wear 

The  Godhead's  most  benignant  grace; 

Nor  know  we  anything  so  fair 

As  is  the  smile  upon  thy  face: 

Flowers  laugh  before  thee  in  their  beds 

And  fragrance  in  thy  footing  treads; 

Thou  dost  preserv-e  the  stars  from  wrong; 

And  the  most  ancient  heavens,  through  Thee,  are  fresh  and  strong. 

— WOBDSWOETH. 

II.    The  Religious  Nature  of  the  Soul 

I.  The  Relation  of  Morality  to  Religion. — In  pass- 
ing from  the  moral  to  the  religious  nature  of  the  soul 
we  are  rising  from  a  lower  to  a  higher  aspect  and 
application  of  the  same  principle.  We  are  still  within 
the  region  of  value  and  obligation.  The  moral  nature 
deals  with  duty  on  the  level  of  our  human  world.  But 
the  human  soul  cannot  always  look  down  and  around : 
it  must  also  look  up.  Man  is  "  the  upward-looking 
animal,''  and  this  is  his  highest  faculty  and  distinction. 
The  sense  of  duty  in  the  soul  implies  a  moral  law  to 
which  it  is  subject,  and  law  inevitably  implied  a  Law- 
giver. Its  scale  of  moral  values  as  it  runs  up  cannot 
be  cut  off  short  at  the  limit  of  our  sky,  but  irresistibly 
prolongs  itself  through  the  heavens  and  beyond  the 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  MORAL  NATURE     85 

stars.  Religion  thus  covers  and  completes  morality  as 
the  sky  overarches  and  crowns  the  earth. 

This  relation  has  been  happily  expressed  by  Dr. 
Newman  Smyth  as  follows :  "  Religion  opens  larger 
prospects  to  duty.  If  ethics  are  regarded  as  the  earthly 
science  of  life,  then  religion  is  -the  moral  astronomy  of 
it.  While  bent  on  the  tasks  of  the  former,  we  need 
the  outlook  and  the  uplift  of  the  latter.  The  religious 
consciousness  encircles  and  completes  the  moral  con- 
sciousness of  man  around  the  whole  horizon  of  his  life, 
bending  over  every  field  of  duty,  as  the  heavens  encom- 
pass and  comprehend  the  earth.  Not  to  have  any  out- 
look of  religious  thought  and  far  prospect  of  a  bound- 
less hope  as  we  pursue  our  daily  tasks,  were  like  living 

on  an  earth  v/ithout  a  sky.  One  may  do  his  daily 
work  with  little  thought  indeed  of  the  overarching 
heaven;  but  the  sky  is  always  there, — the  far,  pure 
background  for  all  man's  life  on  the  earth, — and  some 
enlarging  and  quieting  sense  of  it  will  pervade  our 
daily  consciousness  of  toil  and  labour  under  the  sun. 
Duty  is  not  a  task  given  man  to  be  laboriously  done 
at  the  bottom  of  a  dark  mine;  rather  it  is  a  life  to  be 
healthfully  and  joyously  led  under  the  broad  sky  in 
the  clear  sunshine  of  God.  In  obeying  duty,  because 
it  is  duty,  we  may  say  in  Sthleiermacher's  spirit,  '  The 
religious  feelings  are  to  be  as  a  holy  music  which  shall 
accompany  all  the  action  of  man;  he  should  do  all  with 
religion,  not  from  religion.'  Though  the  immediate 
motive  may  be  duty,  religion  may  be  its  hap])y  accom- 
paniment always."  ^  While  there  may  he  some  degree 
of  morality  without  religion  and  of  religion  without 
morality,  yet  the  two  ideas  and  modes  of  life  are 
logically  compleinontary :  either  will  be  starved  and 

»  Christian  Ethics,  pp.  23-24. 


86        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

stunted  without  the  other,  each  completes  and  illumi- 
nates and  enriches  the  other,  and  it  takes  both  to  make 
the  full-orbed  sphere  of  life. 

2.  The  Origin  and  Nature  of  Religion. — Theories 
of  the  origin  and  of  the  nature  of  religion  have  gen- 
erated endless  controversy  and  variety  of  views.  These 
two  aspects  of  the  subject  involve  each  other,  and  our 
view  of  the  one  will  affect  our  view  of  the  other. 

A  theory  once  widely  held  was  that  religion  had  its 
origin  in  a  primitive  divine  revelation,  but  there  is  no 
trace  of  such  a  revelation  in  the  history  of  many  na- 
tions and  tribes,  and  the  theory  is  now  generally 
abandoned.  Historical  religions  may  have  originated 
in  this  way,  but  not  religion. 

Another  widely  accepted  theory  is  that  religion  is 
due  to  the  fear  of  gods  or  of  God.  Primitive  men  be- 
lieved, as  savages  still  believe,  that  the  world  is  thickly 
infested  with  demons  that  lurk  in  every  tree  and  stone 
and  natural  object,  waiting  and  watching  to  entrap 
men.  This  view  filled  the  world  with  terror,  making 
every  forest  and  mountain  and  sea  an  object  of  dread. 
Men  thought  to  propitiate  these  evil  demons  by  in- 
cantations and  sacrifices  and  other  forms  of  worship, 
and  thus  arose  the  whole  brood  of  religions. 

The  origin  of  religion  has  been  mixed  up  with  magic 
and  fetishism  and  ancestor  worship  and  other  primitive 
superstitions.  There  has  been  much  digging  in  the 
subsoil  and  slime  of  savagery  and  in  the  ashes  of 
archaeology,  and  thus  religion  has  been  connected  with 
an  ignoble  origin  and  the  impression  given  that  it 
would  disappear  as  these  superstitions  fade  away  under 
the  light  of  civilization.  But  the  true  nature  of  a  tree 
is  better  seen  in  its  blossoms  and  fruit  than  in  its 
gnarled  roots  buried  in  the  earth ;  and  the  true  nature 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  MORAL  NATLTIE     87 

of  religion  is  seen  in  its  highest  and  purest  forms.  And 
so  far  from  dying  out,  religion  grows  with  all  the 
growth  of  man  and  blooms  into  its  finest  blossoms  and 
ripens  into  its  best  fruits  in  the  highest  civilization. 

Two  of  the  greatest  investigators  and  highest  au- 
thorities in  the  archaeology  of  religion  are  Dr.  E.  B. 
Tylor,  who  brings  out  of  his  researches  the  "  minimum 
definition "  that  religion  is  "  the  belief  in  spiritual 
beings,"  ^  and  Dr.  J.  G.  Frazer,  whose  elaborate  studies, 
extending  to  twelve  volumes,  lead  him  to  the  conclusion 
that  religion  is  "  a  propitiation  or  conciliation  of 
powers  supreme  to  man  which  are  believed  to  direct 
and  control  the  course  of  nature  and  of  human  life."  ^ 

Herbert  Spencer  found  the  origin  of  religion  in 
ancestor  worship  and  resolved  its  irreducible  and  in- 
destructible element  into  the  sense  of  mystery  we  ex- 
perience in  the  presence  of  the  Unknowable  Power  in 
which  we  are  environed  and  which  wells  up  within  us. 
This  wonder  gave  birth  to  worship  and  must  ever  en- 
dure in  human  nature.  Though  he  says  that  the  sub- 
ject of  religion  ''  is  one  which  concerns  us  more  than 
any  other  matter  whatever,"  ^  yet  he  makes  no  pro- 
vision for  its  cultiv^ation  and  exercise  in  his  system  of 
philosophy  and  ethics,  and  it  only  fails  as  a  passing 
shadow  on  the  first  pages  of  his  First  Principles  and 
then  disappears  and  is  heard  of  no  more.  The  am- 
bitious Synthetic  Philosophy  becomes  pitifully  impo- 
tent and  silent  when  it  comes  to  the  matter  '*  wliich 
concerns  us  more  than  any  other  matter  whatever." 

Along  with  Spencer's  account  of  religion  as  consist- 
ing in  wonder  we  may  classify  John  Morley's  *'  feeliug 

»  Primitive  Culture,  Vol.  I,  p.  241. 

>  Thr  dol'lcn  Hough,  Third  Edition,  Vol.  I,  p.  222. 

8  First  Principles,  p.  24. 


88         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

for  the  incommensurable  things,"  Edward  Caird's 
"  a  man's  religion  is  the  expression  of  his  attitude  to 
the  universe,"  J.  R.  Seeley's  "  permanent  and  habitual 
admiration,"  and  Matthew  Arnold's  "  morality  touched 
with  emotion." 

Schleiermacher  found  the  essential  element  of  re- 
ligion to  consist  in  a  feeling  of  dependence,  "  the  imme- 
diate consciousness  of  the  universal  existence  of  all 
finite  things  in  and  through  the  Infinite,  and  of  all 
temporal  things  in  and  through  the  Eternal." 

Professor  William  James,  as  the  result  of  his  wide 
collation  of  "  the  varieties  of  religious  experience,"  con- 
cludes that  "  there  is  a  certain  uniform  deliverance  in 
which  religions  all  appear  to  meet.  It  consists  of  two 
parts:  1.  An  uneasiness;  and  2.  Its  solution.  1.  The 
uneasiness  reduced  to  its  simplest  terms  is  a  sense  that 
there  is  something  tvrotig  about  its  as  we  naturally 
stand.  2.  The  solution  is  a  sense  that  we  are  saved 
from  the  wrongness  by  making  proper  connection  with 
the  higher  powers."  ^ 

E.  S.  Waterhouse  sums  up  his  study  of  religion  in 
the  conclusion  that,  "  stated  in  the  most  general  man- 
ner, it  would  seem  to  be  the  belief  in  a  higher  order 
of  things  into  due  relation  with  which  man  must 
enter  in  order  properly  to  adjust  his  life."  ^  One 
more  definition  may  be  added,  that  of  Dr.  Martineau: 
Religion  is  ^'  belief  in  an  Ever-living  God,  that  is,  a 
Divine  Mind  and  Will  ruling  the  Universe  and  holding 
Moral  relations  with  mankind."  ^ 

These  statements,  which  might  be  indefinitely  multi- 
plied, all  lead  to  the  general  definition  that  religion  is 

^  Varieties  of  Religious  Experience,  p.  508;  also  pp.  485-486. 
*  Modern  Theories  of  Religion,  p.  5. 
•J.  Study  of  Religion,  Vol.  I,  p.  1. 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  MORAL  NATURE     89 

conscious  relation  to  God.  The  God  worshipped  may 
be  the  evil  demons  of  the  savage,  the  many  gods  of 
the  polytheist,  the  one  God  of  the  Hebrew  and  the  Mo- 
hammedan, or  the  trinitarian  God  of  Christianity. 
The  relation  is  also  pervaded  with  some  degree  of  con- 
sciousness, for  all  men  ''  live  and  move  and  have  their 
being"  in  God  irrespective  of  whether  they  have  any 
religion  or  not.  This  conscious  idea  of  some  relation 
to  a  higher  power  or  deity  is  the  root  of  ail  religious 
doctrines  and  practices. 

3.  Religion  Rooted  in  Every  Part  of  Our  Nature. — 
There  is  some  element  of  truth  in  all  of  these  theories 
from  the  lowest  to  the  highest,  and  taken  together  they 
show  that  religion  is  deeply  rooted  in  every  part  of  our 
nature. 

(a)  It  is  first  rooted  in  our  intuitions  and  instincts, 
it  is  a  constitutional  and  practical  need  of  life.  It 
appeared  from  the  beginning  universally  in  the  world, 
no  nation  or  tribe  having  been  found  that  did  not  mani- 
fest it  in  some  form;  and  it  did  not  appear  as  a  con- 
scious creation  or  product  of  thought,  but  as  an 
instinctive  and  necessary  activity  of  the  human  soul. 
Men  did  not  study  theology  and  then  become  religious, 
but  they  lived  religiously  and  then  they  studied  theol- 
ogy. Man  had  a  religious  nature  which  immediately 
impelled  him  to  live  a  religious  life,  just  as  he  had  a 
physical  and  a  social  nature  which  impelled  him  to  live 
a  physical  and  social  life.  As  men  lived  in  the  sun- 
light ages  before  they  studied  astronomy  and  cultivated 
the  soil  long  before  they  studied  chemistry,  so  they 
worshipped  God  before  they  so  much  as  thought  about 
theology.  The  religious  nature  is  just  as  constitutional 
and  ineradicable  in  man  as  tlie  mental  or  physical,  and 
therefore  he  is  necessarily  and  incurably  religious. 


90         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

It  was  out  of  human  experience  that  belief  in  God 
arose.  Men  did  not  first  construct  arguments  for  the 
existence  of  God  and  then  believe  in  him,  but  they  first 
believed  in  him  and  then  invented  arguments  to  confirm 
this  belief.  God  is  an  immediate  practical  necessity 
for  man  as  certainly  as  bread,  and  men  instinctively 
began  to  worship  him.  If  they  had  not  found  a  God 
waiting  and  seeking  to  meet  and  satisfy  their  spiritual 
needs,  they  would  have  been  forced  to  invent  one.  Our 
belief  in  God  is  immensely  older  and  stronger  than  all 
the  reasons  we  can  give  for  it.  Reason  did  not  create 
this  belief  and  reason  cannot  destroy  it.  It  thrives 
amidst  opposition. 

And  as  our  belief  in  God  thus  grew  up  out  of  human 
experience,  so  did  all  the  other  elements  of  religious 
life.  Faith  and  obedience,  prayer  and  praise,  service 
and  sacrifice,  were  at  first  necessary  expressions  of 
human  needs,  the  instinctive  and  universal  aspiration 
of  the  human  soul.  God  set  eternity  in  the  heart  of 
man,  and  eternity  has  come  out  of  it.  Every  doctrine 
of  theology,  trinity  and  decrees,  sin  and  atonement, 
mercy  and  love,  justice  and  judgment,  found  some  affin- 
ity and  analogue  in  human  experience.  These  doc- 
trines were  never  foreign  and  alien  importations 
imposed  on  the  human  mind,  but,  though  divinely 
implanted,  grew  up  out  of  the  human  heart  as  their 
native  soil. 

The  Bible  itself  is  the  grand  illustration  and  proof 
of  this  principle.  It  was  all  lived  before  it  was  written 
and  formulated  in  commandments  and  creeds.  The 
principles  contained  in  the  Ten  Commandments  were 
not  originated  by  or  first  revealed  to  Moses.  Laws 
against  murder  and  adultery  and  theft  had  been  in  the 
world  from  the  earliest  times,  and  ages  of  human  expe- 


PSYCHOLOGY  OP  THE  MORAL  NATURE     91 

rience  had  confirmed  them  as  necessary  conditions  of 
life.^  The  metal  of  these  commandments  had  been  in 
use  in  a  crude  state  as  a  means  of  social  barter :  Moses 
under  divine  inspiration  minted  them  into  current  coin 
and  put  them  into  general  and  permanent  circulation. 
The  sharp  die  and  authoritative  form  are  his,  but  their 
substance  is  the  raw  material  of  universal  human  ex- 
perience. 

The  same  fact  is  true  of  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount. 
The  substance  of  its  teaching  and  many  of  its  sayings 
are  found  scattered  through  Jewish  literature  -  and  can 
be  matched  even  from  heathen  sources.  This  fact  does 
not  in  the  least  detract  from  the  divine  authority  of 
Jesus,  any  more  than  does  the  fact  that  he  used  human 
language  in  his  preaching;  rather  it  confirms  his  truth 
and  wisdom  as  it  shows  that  he  made  the  universal 
experience  of  men  the  basis  and  substance  of  his 
ethical  teaching.  But  he  also  took  crude  human  ore 
and  minted  it  into  current  coin  and  stamped  it  with  the 

*  Detailed  evidence  of  this  obvious  fact  will  be  found  in  Bad&'s 
The  Old  Testament  in  the  Light  of  To-dcuy^  Chapter  IV.  He  says: 
"  The  wrong  of  murder,  theft,  false  witness,  and  adultery  re- 
quired no  special  revelation  .  .  .  and  attended  the  earliest  mani- 
festations of  the  moral  instinct  even  in  the  man  of  the  stone 
^&i"  (PP-  88-89).  Paul  asserts  the  same  fact  in  Romans  2:  14-15: 
"  For  when  Gentiles  that  have  not  the  law  do  by  nature  the 
things  of  the  law,  these,  not  having  the  law,  are  the  law  unto 
themselves;  in  that  they  show  the  work  of  the  law  written  in 
their  hearts,  their  conscience  bearing  witness  therewith,  and  their 
thoughts  one  with  another  accusinfif  or  else  excusing  them." 

'Abundant  proof  and  illustration  of  this  will  be  found  in  Eder- 
shcim's  Life  and  Times  of  Jesus  the  Messiah,  Vol.  I,  pp.  524-541, 
In  comparing  sayings  in  the  Talmud  with  the  Lord's  Prayer  ho 
Bays  that  "  it  may  be  freely  admitted  that  tho  form,  and  some- 
times even  the  spirit,  approachod  closi-ly  the  words  of  the 
Lord  "  (p.  53G).  See  also  Guikie's  Life  and  Words  of  Christ,  Vol. 
II,  p.  54. 


92         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

image  and  superscription  of  his  supreme  authority  and 
thus  put  it  into  the  universal  circulation  of  the  world.^ 
He  gathered  scattered  human  rays  into  the  focus  of  his 
divine  personality  and  shot  them  forth  as  a  vivid  blaze 
of  light  across  all  succeeding  centuries.  These  rays 
had  slight  power  and  attracted  little  attention  as  they 
shone  dimly  in  other  teachers,  but  concentrated  in  his 
divine  Person  they  made  him  the  Light  of  the  world. 
Divine  revelation  never  reaches  its  goal  and  becomes 
complete  until  it  passes  into  human  experience.  The 
Bible  is  a  great  body  of  such  experience.  It  is  not  an 
artificial  product  or  dessicated  mummy,  but  it  has  red 
blood  in  every  artery  and  vein,  and  palpitates  with  life 
in  every  nerve.  It  w^as  all  first  lived  before  it  was 
written,  and  thus  illustrates  and  confirms  the  principle 
that  religion  grows  out  of  life  as  fruit  out  of  its  seed. 

This  view,  it  need  not  be  said,  does  not  in  any  degree 
deny  or  disparage  or  impair  the  divine  element  in  the 
Bible  as  an  inspired  revelation.  God  was  behind  and 
in  the  whole  process  of  redemption  and  revelation,  so 
that  holy  men  spoke  and  wrote  as  they  were  moved  by 
the  Holy  Spirit.  But  God  had  to  speak  to  men  out  of 
their  own  needs  and  in  their  own  language  and  lead 
them  along  the  familiar  path  of  their  own  experience  to 
loftier  visions  and  victories.  And  so  he  accommodated 
himself  to  human  ideas  and  words,  customs  and  institu- 
tions, and  at  every  point  used  human  experience  as  a 

^  Farrar,  in  his  Life  of  Christ,  Vol.  I,  p.  265,  in  speaking  of 
"  tlie  Rabbinic  parallels  "  to  the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  quotes  the 
following  stanza  from  "  In  Memoriam  "  : 

Though  truths  in  manhood  darkly  join. 

Deep-seated  in  our  mystic  frame. 

We  yield  all  honour  to  the  name 
Of  Him  who  made  them  current  coin. 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  MORAL  NATURE     93 

stepping-stone  on  which  to  lure  and  lift  men  to  higher 
things,  or  as  the  necessary  prepared  soil  out  of  which 
to  grow  divine  harvests.  In  its  origin  and  development 
religion  is  both  human  and  divine,  and  neither  element 
should  be  narrowed  or  impaired  at  the  expense  of  the 
other. 

The  creeds  of  Christendom  and  all  progress  in  theol- 
ogy have  sprung  out  of  the  same  soil  of  experience. 
Even  those  ancient  and  medieval  doctrines  and  meta- 
physical distinctions  that  now  seem  to  us  so  specula- 
tive and  unrelated  to  practical  life,  if  not  false  and 
abhorrent  to  our  Christian  sensibilities,  over  which 
ecclesiastics  fought  and  even  convulsed  the  Church  and 
the  world  in  blood,  even  those  forms  of  faith  closely  fit 
the  felt  need  of  their  times  and  were  then  living  reali- 
ties. And  the  same  is  true  of  theological  creeds  and 
changes  to-day:  they  keep  pace  with  and  express  the 
growing  facts  of  experience.  Whenever  the  Church  de- 
velops a  new  religious  experience,  it  soon  clothes  it  in 
a  new  credal  expression. 

All  this  is  tremendous  proof  that  religion  is,  not  a 
priestly  invention  or  superstition  or  dream,  but  a 
reality  rooted  in  the  very  constitution  of  man  and  ex- 
pressed in  the  universal  experience  of  the  world.  The 
priest  and  the  Church  did  not  make  it,  but  it  made  the 
priest  and  the  Church.  The  Bible  did  not  create  it, 
but  it  created  the  Bible.  God  set  eternity  in  man's 
heart,  and  out  of  this  original  constitution  religion  has 
sprung  as  a  normal  and  necessary  outgrowth.  Man 
simply  cannot  live  a  worthy  life  without  religion,  and 
therefore  he  will  and  must  have  it.  Ilis  heart  cries  out, 
with  Augustine:  '' O  God,  thou  hast  made  us  for  thy- 
self and  we  cannot  rest  until  we  rest  in  thee." 

(h)  Religion  being  rooted  in  the  whole  constitution 


94         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

of  the  soul  thereby  has  roots  in  every  one  of  its  funda- 
mental faculties. 

It  is  rooted  in  the  feelings.  The  feelings  are  the  deep- 
est if  not  the  oldest  constituent  of  the  soul.  As  life 
descends  the  scale  feeling  persists  long  after  intelli- 
gence has  faded  out,  and  the  heart  appeared  in  the  evo- 
lution of  life  long  before  the  brain.  Some  psychologists 
try  to  resolve  intelligence  into  feeling  and  make  feeling 
the  primal  constituent  of  the  soul  that  afterwards  de- 
veloped intelligence.  In  their  view  intelligence  is  an- 
ticipated or  forefelt  feeling.  However  this  may  be, 
feeling  appears  in  the  infant  before  intelligence  and 
remains  through  life  as  the  deepest  root  of  the  soul. 
Religion  ramifies  the  feelings  in  six  forms:  fear,  won- 
der, dependence,  value,  obligation,  and  beauty. 

Fear  is  a  constitutional  emotion  which  is  one  of  the 
safeguards  of  life.  It  is  a  danger  signal  that  causes 
us  to  shrink  from  and  avoid  objects  and  courses  of 
conduct  that  threaten  us  with  harm.  It  runs  up 
through  the  whole  scale  of  life.  It  is  dominant  at  the 
bottom  of  this  scale,  but  it  does  not  fade  out  at  the  top. 
While  many  of  the  lower  fears  are  overcome  or  out- 
grown, yet  higher  fears  are  developed. 

Fear  leads  to  religion  when  it  takes  the  form  of 
dread  in  the  presence  of  the  higher  powers  that  govern 
the  world,  and  in  the  highest  religion  it  becomes  the 
fear  of  the  Lord.  Any  God  that  is  worthy  of  our  re- 
spect must  have  such  a  nature  and  such  laws  of  char- 
acter and  judgment  as  would  excite  our  fear  when  we 
transgress  his  will.  There  is  a  base  fear  that  grovels 
before  mere  power  as  of  a  tyrant,  the  fear  of  demons 
that  is  almost  the  whole  of  many  primitive  forms  of 
religion.  But  however  enlightened  souls  may  lose  such 
fear,  they  rise  into  the  nobler  fear  of  God  which  is  the 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  MORAL  NATLTFIE     95 

beginning  of  wisdom.  It  is  not  a  deep  and  strong  but  a 
shallow  and  irreverent  soul  that  has  no  fear  of  God. 
The  agnostic  poet  may  boast  that  ^'  the  menace  of  the 
years  finds  and  shall  find  me  unafraid,"  ^  but  this  con- 
fidence must  depend  on  one's  conscience  and  the  course 
of  his  life.  If  the  universe  means  intensely  and  means 
good  and  is  to  keep  our  respect  it  must  ever  utter  the 
solemn  warning,  "  Woe  to  the  wicked !  it  shall  be  ill 
with  him."  Only  fools  mock  at  sin  and  lose  all  sense  of 
fear.  Fear  is  not  a  high  motive,  but  it  is  a  true  motive 
that  urges  us  into  religion. 

There  is  a  large  truth  in  Herbert  Spencer's  theory 
that  wonder  is  the  persistent  root  of  religion.  The 
sense  of  mystery  we  experience  in  the  presence  of  the 
universe  irresistibly  hushes  and  awes  the  soul  with  a 
deep  emotion  of  reverence.  We  are  profoundly  im- 
pressed and  moved  with  a  feeling  of  the  transcendent 
greatness  and  awfulness  of  the  Power  that  produces  all 
these  glittering  constellations  as  the  sparkling  dew  of 
its  breath ;  and  this  feeling  never  can  be  explained 
away  or  outgrown,  as  all  our  growth  in  knowledge  only 
makes  the  mystery  deeper  and  vaster.  Such  wonder  is 
akin  to  worship  and  will  ever  be  one  strand  that  draws 
and  binds  us  to  God. 

A  still  larger  element  of  truth  is  embodied  in 
Schleiermacher's  theory  that  religion  is  our  sense  of 
dependence.  The  babe  is  one  of  the  most  beautiful 
instances  of  deix^ndcnce  in  the  world.  It  is  nourished 
and  cared  for  by  the  mother  and  would  (piickly  perish 
if  cut  off  from  such  care.  Almost  its  first  act  is  to 
cling  to  anything  that  comes  in  its  way.  We  never  out- 
grow such  dei)endence,  but  it  literally  grows  with  our 
growth.    Life  ever  increases  in  complexity  by  which  we 

»  W.  E.  Ucnley  in  "  Invictua." 


96         THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

are  brought  into  dependence  upon  a  wider  environment 
and  upon  a  greater  number  of  human  beings  until  our 
wants  are  supplied  by  millions  of  toilers  in  all  lands, 
farmers,  manufacturers,  inventors,  explorers,  scientists, 
thinkers,  artists,  poe^s,  workers  in  every  field  from  the 
lowest  to  the  highest.  We  also  discover  that  we  are 
dependent  on  nature,  the  soil  and  shower  and  sun  and 
all  the  stars.  We  are  bound  by  delicate  cords  to  every 
atom  of  the  universe  and  are  dependent  upon  it  at  an 
infinite  number  of  points.  This  sense  of  dependence, 
whether  in  its  lowest  and  feeblest  development  or  in 
its  highest  enlightenment  and  widest  consciousness,  ir- 
resistibly leads  to  an  ultimate  point  of  dependence,  a 
Power  that  is  itself  independent  of  all  change,  a  Rock 
that  is  higher  than  we,  an  infinite  and  eternal  God.  We 
cannot  rest  in  our  dependence  until  we  feel  ourselves 
cradled  in  an  everlasting  Arm  in  final  sectlrity  and 
peace.  The  sense  of  childhood  is  something  deep  and 
permanerit  and  powerful  in  the  human  heart,  and  it 
cries  out  as  an  infant  crying  in  the  night  and  cannot 
be  hushed  or  satisfied  until  it  finds  a  Father.  Its  great 
cry  through  all  the  ages  is,  '"  Show  us  the  Father  and  it 
sufficeth  us." 

Our  sense  of  value  is  incomplete  and  unsatisfied  until 
we  find  a  final  standard  and  perfect  embodiment  of 
worth.  We  have  seen  that  we  have  a  scale  of  values 
ascending  from  lower  to  higher  worths.  Such  a  scale 
must  have  some  absolute  standard  and  supreme  worth 
from  which  it  is  suspended  and  derives  its  whole  value. 
Without  this  final  point  of  suspension  and  ultimate 
standard  the  whole  scale  has  no  real  support  and  value 
and  falls  to  the  ground.  Finite  and  temporal  worth 
loses  its  chief  value  if  there  is  no  absolute  and  eternal 
worth  of  which  it  is  a  tiny  copy  and  on  which  it  de- 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  MORAL  NATURE     97 

pends  for  its  permanent  worth  and  sanction.  And  so 
our  sense  of  worth  logically  and  irresistibly  runs  up 
into  our  sense  of  worship.  The  two  things  are  so 
closely  related  that,  as  we  have  seen,  the  names  are 
only  slightly  different  spellings  of  the  same  word. 
Our  worship  is  our  sense  of  the  worthship  of  God,  and 
any  sense  of  worth  in  the  world  is  a  stepping-stone  up 
to  the  high  altar  of  the  supreme  worthship  or  worship 
of  God. 

Our  sense  of  the  obligation  of  worth  and  right  is 
another  direct  stepping-stone  to  the  same  altar.  The 
feeling  that  we  ought  to  obey  the  right  means  that  we 
owe  this  obedience,  and  duty  is  that  which  is  due.  The 
implications  of  such  words  and  relations  can  be  ex- 
plained /)Rly  in  personal  terms.  We  cannot  owe  any- 
thing to  a  blind  kiv/  and  power,  but  only  to  a  Law- 
giver and  Person.  There  is  a  person  at  one  end  of  this 
ethical  relation  and  duty,  and  there  must  equally  be  a 
Person  at  the  other  end,  or  this  powerful  chain  that 
binds  us  is  suspended  on  nothing,  as  though  the  gravita- 
tion that  holds  the  earth  in  its  orbit  were  at  the  other 
end  left  hanging  unsupported  and  loose  in  space,  in- 
stead of  being  rooted  in  the  sun.  Conscience  is  a  power- 
ful witness  to  a  supreme  Lawgiver  ar.d  Lonl  and  cries 
out  v.ith  all  its  might  that  *'  we  ought  to  obey  God 
rather  than  men." 

Our  sense  of  l)eauty  or  esthetic  nature  is  another 
path  by  which  our  feeling  finds  God.  The  sense  of 
beauty  within  us  is  matched  and  waked  into  iinisic  by 
the  l>cauty  without  us  that  tunes  the  million-stringed 
harp  of  nature,  or  that  carves  and  j)aints  the  world 
and  drenches  it  with  beauty  down  to  its  very  atoms. 
The  eye  sees  and  the  heart  feels  only  what  corre- 
Bponds  with  the  nature  of  the  soul,  and  therefore  our 


98        THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

esthetic  nature  finds  in  the  world  an  artistic  essence 
and  nature  which  can  be  the  product  only  of  an  infinite 
Artist.  Without  this  ultimate  source,  our  esthetic 
sensibilities  are  an  illusion  without  any  adequate  cause 
and  satisfaction. 

Thus  our  feelings  in  their  various  forms  feel  after 
God  if  haply  they  may  find  him ;  and  they  do  find  that 
he  is  "  not  far  from  any  one  of  us.''  As  long  as  feeling 
endures  as  a  constituent  element  of  the  human  soul 
religion  will  endure  and  men  will  worship. 

(c)  Religion  is  also  rooted  in  the  intellect.  There 
has  been  some  reaction  and  even  revolt  in  recent  years 
against  the  intellect  as  a  means  of  finding  truth  and 
of  human  guidance.  Pragmatism,  which  puts  all  its 
eggs  in  the  basket  of  practical  experience,  discounts 
and  disparages  the  human  brain  as  an  organ  of  knowl- 
edge and  would  have  us  rather  trust  the  heart.  No 
doubt  there  has  been  some  ground  for  this  distrust  of 
reason  as  a  reaction  against  the  extreme  philosophical 
intellectualism  of  other  days,  by  which  every  thinker 
spun  the  universe  out  of  his  own  head.  Pragmatism 
has  rendered  good  service  in  emphasizing  anew  certain 
old  philosophical  principles,  such  as  the  place  and  im- 
portance of  experience,  of  the  feelings  and  will,  and  of 
value  judgments,  in  our  cognitive  processes  and  prac- 
tical living,  but  it  carries  its  reaction  against  the  in- 
tellect too  far,  almost  to  the  length  of  committing 
intellectual  suicide,  and  then  strangely  keeps  on  talk- 
ing. It  is  only  by  using  reason  that  pragmatists  can 
depreciate  reason  and  defend  their  pragmatism. 

The  intellect  must  ever  hold  its  place  as  a  fundamen- 
tal faculty  of  knowledge  and  as  a  means  and  guide  of 
our  life.  And  so  our  belief  in  God,  however  deeply  it 
may  be  rooted  in  the  instincts  and  practical  needs  and 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  MORAL  NATURE     99 

feelings,  is  also  intertwined  inextricably  with  all  the 
filaments  of  the  brain.  It  starts  as  a  spring  of  in- 
stinct and  feeling,  but  it  quickly  emerges  into  the  field 
of  thought  and  must  be  justified  at  the  bar  of  reason. 

The  human  mind  cannot  stop  with  raw  experience, 
but  must  reflect  upon  it,  penetrate  into  its  cause,  trace 
its  consequences  and  elaborate  it  into  systematic  form. 
Man  is  a  thinker  and  cannot  keep  his  brain  from 
sprouting;  he  has  an  organizing  instinct  and  will  not 
put  up  with  a  disordered  world;  he  is  an  architect  and 
artist  and  seeks  to  build  all  his  mental  products  into  a 
symmetrical  and  beautiful  temple  of  thought.  Hence 
the  raw  material  of  every  field  of  human  experience  is 
wrought  up  into  a  science,  and  so  we  have  astronomers 
exploring  the  heavens  and  reducing  them  to  order, 
geologists  turning  up  and  deciphering  the  rocky  leaves 
of  the  globe,  chemists  and  physicists  feeling  in  among 
the  atoms  of  matter,  and  psychologists  dissecting  the 
human  soul.  Religion  cannot  escape  this  process,  and 
hence  we  have  its  pyschology  and  theology  and 
philosoph3\ 

As  the  instincts  find  God  as  the  satisfaction  of  their 
practical  needs,  and  the  feelings  find  him  as  the  appro- 
priate object  of  their  craving,  so  the  intellect  finds 
God  as  the  result  of  its  search.  It  rationalizes  and 
illuminates  and  confirms  all  these  instinctive  and  emo- 
tional grounds  and  impulses  of  religious  faith,  and 
then  it  goes  on  to  develop  arguments  of  its  own.  It 
studies  the  world  as  it  reads  a  book  and  finds  God  at 
the  end  of  several  paths  or  well-known  arguments  for 
the  existence  and  personality  of  God. 

The  cosmological  or  causal  argument  finds  that  the 
world  is  an  object  of  change  or  a  manufactured  product 
that  calls  for  a  ^laker  as  clearly  and  certainly  as  a 


100       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

web  of  cloth  or  a  watch.  The  argument  from  design 
finds  the  wgrld  is  intelligible  in  every  atom  and  is 
throughout  a  tissue  of  intellectual  relations  and  ideas. 
The  astronomer  reads  the  heavens,  which  are  the  real 
astronomy,  and  then  copies  these  vast  pages  upon  the 
tiny  pages  of  his  book.  The  geologist  reads  the  rocky 
leaves  of  the  globe,  and  every  other  scientist  and  thinker 
and  poet  is  simply  seeing  the  thought  and  beauty  in 
nature  and  translating  them  into  our  language.  The 
world  is  thus  seen  to  be  transparent  thought  and  we 
see  a  Mind  back  of  it  and  in  it  as  certainly  and  clearly 
as  we  see  the  mind  of  the  author  back  of  and  in  his 
book.  The  anthropological  argument  applies  this  prin- 
ciple to  man  and  finds  that  as  he  also  is  a  product  he 
cannot  rise  higher  than  his  Maker,  and  therefore  the 
supreme  Cause  must  be  a  Mind  and  Person. 

These  arguments,  which  have  been  written  out  in 
many  volumes  ^  and  are  ever  being  enlarged  and  illu- 
minated by  all  our  increasing  knowledge,  have  been 
objected  to  as  proving  only  a  finite  cause  suflQcient  to 
produce  a  finite  world.  But  our  sense  of  causation 
cannot  rest  in  a  finite  and  dependent  cause  and  can  be 
satisfied  only  as  we  leap  back  of  all  such  dependent 
causes  to  an  independent  and  absolute  Cause,  or  infinite 
and  eternal  God.  And  this  general  argument  still 
stands  as  the  result  and  verdict  of  the  human  mind 
after  all  its  search  into  the  nature  of  this  world.  Un- 
less it  takes  more  reasoning  power  to  construe  than  to 
construct  it,  the  universe  must  ever  stand  as  a  sublime 
appeal  of  Thought  to  thought,  of  a  personal  infinite 
Mind  to  our  finite  minds. 

^  A  remarkably  fresh  statement  of  these  arguments  in  the  light 
of  modern  knowledge  is  found  in  Basic  Ideas  in  Religion  by  the 
late  Professor  R.  W.  Micou. 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  MORAL  NATLTIE    101 

We  are  here  getting  close  to  deep  water  as  to  the  pos- 
sibility of  personality  in  an  infinite  being,  but  modern 
thinkers  since  the  day  of  Lotze  have  taken  care  of  this 
difficulty,  and  we  are  only  concerned  with  the  psycho- 
logical fact  that  our  mind  finds  the  world  to  be  a  book 
that  tells  us  of  its  Author  as  plainly  as  any  human 
book  tells  us  of  its  writer,  an  older  bible  that  rolled 
from  the  hand  of  the  Creator  and  bears  witness  to  his 
eternal  power  and  Godhead.^ 

The  intellect  also  passes  upon  and  interprets  all 
other  evidences  and  forms  of  religion,  whether  in  the 
lowest  pagan  cults  or  in  the  highest  revealed  and  in- 
spired religion.  And  thus  the  intellect  reaches  the 
same  divine  goal  as  the  instincts  and  feelings  and  rests 
in  God. 

(d)  The  will  also  joins  with  other  fundamental 
faculties  in  calling  for  God.  We  are  made  for  action, 
and  all  our  faculties  of  instinct  and  feeling  and  thought 
are  so  many  forces  pushing  and  guiding  us  into  con- 
duct and  achievement.  But  achievement  must  be 
worthy  of  the  powers  that  produce  it,  or  life  ends  in 
failure.  Men  instinctively  hunt  for  great  things  to  do, 
something  worth  while  to  inspire  their  ambition  and 
call  out  their  energies  and  crown  their  visions  with 
victory  and  satisfy  their  souls.  They  see  larger  and 
ever  larger  ends  reaching  farther  and  farther  into  the 
future;  and  this  princii)le  finds  no  wortliy  final  end  and 
satisfaction  until  it  runs  up  into  the  life  of  God  and 
loses  itself  in  his  service  and  victory.  Tlie  religious 
nature  of  man  expresses  itself,  not  only  in  instinct  and 

'  For  a  discussion  of  the  quostion  of  the  personality  of  Ood  and 
othor  points  where  the  psycholofry  of  religion  runs  into  meta- 
pliysics,  see  the  author's  The  World  a  Spiritual  System:  an  In- 
troduction to  MctaijJiysica. 


102       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

feeling  and  thought,  but  preeminently  in  obedience  and 
issues  in  appropriate  and  satisfying  conduct  and  char- 
acter. 

All  human  life  thus  points  beyond  itself  for  its  com- 
pletion and  satisfaction.  The  human  soul  swarms  with 
instincts,  needs,  feelings,  thoughts,  visions,  and  aspira- 
tions which  look  beyond  the  present  world  and  cry  out 
for  the  Infinite  and  Eternal.  Life  that  stops  at  the 
horizon  of  this  world  and  at  the  edge  of  the  grave  is  a 
poor  and  pitiful  fragment,  a  hopeless  failure,  and  cruel 
disappointment.  Instinct,  feeling,  thought,  and  will 
feel  after  and  fix  their  filaments  on  God  and  cling  to 
him  so  tight  they  refuse  to  be  torn  loose.  The  whole 
human  soul  is  one  great  cry  for  God  that  has  filled  all 
the  ages,  and  it  will  never  be  stilled  and  satisfied  until 
his  fulness 

Flows  around  our  incompleteness, 
Round  our  restlessness  his  rest. 


CHAPTER  lY 
THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN 

THE  natural  and  primal  relation  of  man  to  God, 
we  must  believe,  was  one  of  harmony  in  which 
filial  love  and  obedience  blended  with  paternal 
love  and  care  into  fellowship.  Historically  In  the  be- 
ginning of  the  race  this  fellowship  may  have  been  only 
germinal,  but  it  contained  no  seeds  of  discord.  But 
something  happened  that  broke  this  harmony  and  shat- 
tered all  the  music  of  the  world.  The  world  bears  uni- 
versal and  abundant  witness  that  it  is  out  of  joint,  a 
mass  of  wounds  and  woe,  a  scene  of  discord  and  strife. 
At  some  point  a  serpent  crept  into  its  garden  and  poi- 
soned its  life;  on  some  fatal  day  occurred 

Man's  disobedience  and  the  fruit 
Of  that  forbidden  tree,  whose  mortal  taste 
Brought  death  into  the  world,  and  all  our  woe. 

We  are  concerned,  however,  not  with  the  historical 
and  theological  problems,  but  only  with  the'  psychologi- 
cal nature  and  operations,  of  sin.  All  the  way  through 
our  subject,  psychology  deals  with  religion  mainly  on 
its  human  and  subjective  side;  its  divine  objective  side 
falls  within  the  field  of  theology. 

I.    The  Nature  of  Sin 

I.  The  Biblical  Idea  of  Sin. — There  are  three  lead- 
ing words  used  in  the  Old  Testament  and  three  in  the 
New  that  express  the  Biblical  idea  of  sin. 

103 


104       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

(a)  The  Hebrew  words  are  translated  sin,  iniquity 
and  transgression,  and  they  are  all  found  in  one  verse, 
Ex.  34 :  7 :  "  keeping  lovingkindness  for  thousands,  for- 
giving iniquity  and  transgression  and  sin."  The  word 
translated  sin,  chattath^^  expresses  ''  sin  as  missing 
one's  aim.  The  etymology  does  not  suggest  a  person 
against  whom  the  sin  is  committed,  and  does  not  neces- 
sarily imply  intentional  wrongdoing.  But  the  use  of 
the  word  is  not  limited  by  its  etymology,  and  the  sin 
may  be  against  man  (Gen.  dO:l,  I  Sam.  30:1)  or 
against  God  (Ex.  32:33)."2 

The  word  translated  iniquity,  avon,^  means  "  literally 
'  perversion,'  ^  distortion.'  It  is  to  be  distinguished 
from  cJiattath  ^  as  being  a  quality  of  actions  rather 
than  an  act,  and  it  thus  acquires  the  sense  of  guilt. 
Guilt  may  be  described  as  the  sinner's  position  in  re- 
gard to  God  which  results  from  his  sin."  This  Hebrew 
word  and  idea  of  sin  is  closely  paralleled  by  our  Eng- 
lish word  "  wrong,"  which  is  only  another  spelling  of 
the  word  "  wrung,"  and  represents  wrong  as  that  which 
is  wrung  out  of  its  proper  shape,  or  out  of  conformity 
to  that  which  is  right  or  straight. 

The  word  translated  transgression,  peslia,'^  expresses 
^'  a  breaking  away  from  a  law  or  covenant,  and  thus 
implies  a  law  and  lawgiver.  It  implies  what  chattath  ^ 
does  not  necessarily  imply,  namely,  the  voluntariness 
of  sin." 

(&)  The  Greek  words   for  sin  in  the  New  Testa- 

'  nKtsnv 

T    — 

*  This  and  other  quotations  in  this  connection  are  taken  from 
Hastings'  Dictionary  of  the  Bible,  article  Sin. 


3'  ^ 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  105 

ment  exactly  parallel  these  Hebrew  words  in 
meaning. 

The  word  translated  sin,  hamartia,^  like  chattath,^ 
means  missing  the  mark  and  may  "inean  sin  as  a 
habit,  a  state,  a  power,  and  also  a  single  act  of 
sin.'^ 

The  word  translated  iniquity,  anomia?  literally 
means  lawlessness  or  anarchy.  "  In  its  strict  sense 
it  truly  represents  the  conception  of  sin  given  in  the 
Epistles  of  James  and  John."  "  Sin  is  lawlessness  " 
{anomia).     I  John  3:4. 

The  word  translated  transgression,  parahasis,^  liter- 
ally means  transgressing  and  presupposes  "the  exist- 
ence of  a  law." 

These  Biblical  words  for  sin  thus  mean  missing  the 
mark,  the  mark  of  worth  and  duty  that  one  should  aim 
at  and  falling  below  it  or  going  beside  it  to  some  lower 
or  other  end;  twisting  and  perverting  character  and 
conduct  into  a  crooked  thing;  and  transgressing  the 
law.  Those  ideas  all  imply  a  standard  or  scale  of 
values  that  should  be  conformed  to  and  make  sin  con- 
sist in  missing,  perverting,  and  transgressing  it. 

These  ideas  also  all  imply  and  run  up  into  the  idea 
of  God  as  the  highest  mark  and  ultimate  standard  or 
law  that  one  should  attain.  At  times  this  final  inci- 
dence and  guilt  of  sin  is  in  the  background  of  con- 
sciousness, and  at  other  times  it  becomes  intense  as 
the  central  hot  spot  of  consciousness,  as  in  David's 
cry,  "Against  thee,  thee  only  have  I  sinned  (cfuita), 
and  done  this  evil  in  thy  sight"  (Ps.  51:4),  though 
the  first  incidence  of  his  sin  in  this  case  was 
against  a   fellow-man.     Any    violnlion    of    the    moral 


106       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

law  is  on  its  human  side  a  wrong  deed  or,  in  the  case 
of  the  violation  of  civil  law,  a  crime,  but  viewed  in 
its  relation  to  God's  law  it  is  a  sin.  All  crimes  are 
sins,  but  all  sins  are  not  crimes. 

The  Biblical  idea  of  sin  is  succinctly  expressed  in  the 
definition  of  the  Westminster  Shorter  Catechism :  *'  Sin 
is  anj'  want  of  conformity  unto  or  transgression  of  the 
law  of  God." 

2.  The  Psychological  Nature  of  Sin. — We  have  al- 
ready unfolded  the  psychological  nature  of  sin  as  a 
wrong  choice  between  a  higher  and  a  lower  order  of 
worth  and  obligation  on  the  scale  of  value.  /This  scale 
has  as  its  highest  point  and  final  standard  the  worth 
and  wisdom  and  will  of  God.  Any  choice  of  a  lower 
in  the  presence  of  a  higher  good  is  a  missing  of  the 
mark,  a  perversion  or  twisting  of  the  right  and  a  trans- 
gression of  that  law.  As  God's  wisdom  and  will  run 
down  through  the  whole  scale,  any  such  act  of  wrong 
choice  is  explicit  or  implicit  rebellion  against  him  and 
is  sin.  f 

The  deeper  question  now  arises  as  to  the  essence  of 
sin.  Wherein  does  its  essential  principle  consist? 
What  is  the  tap  root  that  sprouts  into  all  its  scarlet 
blossoms  and  bitter  fruits?  The  question  runs  into 
philosophy,  but  it  also  pertains  to  psychology.  There 
are  three  leading  theories  on  this  subject  which  call  for 
attention.^ 

(a)  The  first  theory  is  that  sin  is  sensuousness.  It 
is  due  to  our  animal  heredity  and  the  survival  in  us  of 
brute  instincts  and  passions.  It  is  of  the  nature  of  a 
physical  disorder  and  disease.    It  is  rooted  in  the  blood 

*  For  a  full  discussion  of  these  theories,  see  Dr.  Augustus  H. 
Strong's  Systematic  Theology,  Vol.  II,  pp.  559-573,  and  Julius 
Muller,  The  Christian  Doctrine  of  Sin,  Vol.  I,  pp.  25-203. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  107 

and  is  a  bondage  into  which  we  are  born  and  from 
which  we  cannot  escape. 

There  is  an  element  of  truth  in  this  theory.  Many 
of  the  coarser  sins  of  the  soul,  such  as  gluttony  and 
intemperance,  ally  themselves  with  the  flesh  and  ex- 
press themselves  in  and  through  the  body.  The  term 
"  flesh  "  in  the  New  Testament  means  the  carnal  or 
fleshly  nature  of  the  soul,  or  the  soul  as  allied  with 
and  rooted  in  the  bodv.  The  soul  uses  the  bodv  as  the 
instrument  of  many  of  its  sins,  and  leaves  deposits  of 
its  sins  in  the  tissues  and  habits  of  the  body  until  it 
becomes  soaked  and  saturated  with  evil. 

Yet  this  element  of  truth  in  it  being  granted,  the 
main  contention  of  the  theory  as  to  the  essential  nature 
of  sin  cannot  be  accepted.  It  roots  evil  in  a  material 
organism  and  is  allied  to  the  old  Manichean  theory  that 
matter  is  essentially  evil  in  nature.  Matter  in  itself  is 
neither  moral  nor  immoral,  for  it  has  no  ethical  ele- 
ment in  its  constitution. 

The  animal  also  is  below  the  plane  of  personal  being 
and  has  no  moral  character.  Granting  that  man  did  de- 
rive his  bodily  organism  through  evolution,  yet  the 
animal  nature  in  the  animal  was  not  evil  or  in  any 
degree  moral,  and  therefore  could  not  have  transmitted 
any  evil  to  man.  The  instincts  and  passions  of  man, 
however  they  may  have  been  derived  from  a  lower 
origin,  did  not  become  perverted  and  evil  until  man 
made  them  so.  And  further,  many  sins  have  only  the 
slightest  connection  with  the  body.  The  spiritual  sins 
of  pride,  envy,  malice,  unbelief  and  enmity  against 
God  are  the  most  heinous  and  the  dea(Hi(^1,  and  vet 
they  cannot  be  blamed  on  the  blood.  The  soul  cannot 
point  to  the  body,  as  Adam  pointed  to  Eve,  saying 
"-She  did  it,"  and  say,  "  The  beast  in  me  did  it."    Con- 


108       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

science  contradicts  this  doctrine  and  fastens  the  guilt 
and  essence  of  sin  on  the  soul  itself.  If  this  theory  is 
true  the  soul  does  not  need  a  Saviour,  but  only  the 
body  needs  a  physician.  The  cure  for  sin  is  a  cleansing 
of  the  blood. 

(6)  A  second  theory  of  the  nature  of  sin  is  that  it 
is  due  to  our  human  finiteness.  It  is  a  necessary  cor- 
relative of  our  finite  moral  nature  as  our  ignorance  is 
of  our  finite  intellect.  There  is  no  escaping  ignorance 
because  every  problem  solved  starts  a  hundred  others 
that  are  not  solved,  and  thus  our  ignorance,  so  to  speak, 
grows  faster  than  our  knowledge.  However  vast  the 
circle  of  our  light,  vaster  still  is  the  outlying  circle  of 
darkness  which  hems  the  light  in.  So  our  sin  is  the 
necessary  shadow  that  attends  our  finite  moral  nature 
and  we  never  can  outgrow  it  or  leap  away  from  it. 
^'  Upon  this  view,"  says  Dr.  Strong,  ''  sin  is  the  blun- 
dering of  inexperience,  the  thoughtlessness  that  takes 
evil  for  good,  the  ignorance  that  puts  its  finger  into 
the  fire,  the  stumbling  without  which  one  cannot  learn 
to  walk.  It  is  a  fruit  which  is  sour  and  bitter  simply 
because  it  is  immature.  It  is  a  means  of  discipline  and 
training  for  something  better, — it  is  holiness  in  the 
germ,  good  in  the  making."  This  is  the  view  of  Royce 
that  "  Evil  is  discord  necessary  to  perfect  harmony  " ; 
and  of  Browning: 

The  evil  is  null,  is  naught,  is  silence  implying  sound; 
What  was  good  shall  be  good,  with,  for  evil,  so  much  good  more. 

This  view  also  contains  an  element  of  truth,  for  sin  is 
connected  with  our  finiteness  and  could  not  exist  in  an 
infinite  being;  and  it  is  often  turned  to  good  in  God's 
grace.  But  the  fallacy  of  the  view  is  that  it  confuses 
the  imperfection  of  the  finite  with  the  fault  and  guilt 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  109 

of  sin.  It  is  no  sin  that  we  cannot  be  omniscient  or 
that  we  cannot  be  i)erfect  as  the  Infinite  is  perfect. 
Imperfection  becomes  sin  only  when  it  is  evil  in  its 
nature. 

..The  radical  objection  to  this  view  is  ihat  it  makes  sin 
a  necessary  condition  and  activity  of  the  soul,  and  it  is 
therefore  deterministic  and  pantheistic.  In  so  doing  it 
does  what  all  determinism  and  pantheism  do,  it  re- 
duces morality  to  mechanism,  ethics  to  physics,  and 
thereby  destroys  its  moral  nature.  When  freedom  is 
gone,  no  moral  quality  remains.  Human  wrongdoing 
is  as  necessary  and  unethical  as  the  rain  or  wind. 
Such  a  theory  explains  sin  by  explaining  it  away  and 
cutting  it  up  by  the  roots,  and  all  conscience  and  judg- 
ment and  history  unite  to  deny  and  condemn  it. 

(c)  A  third  theory  of  sin  is  that  it  is  essentially 
selfishness.  Selfishness  is  to  be  distinguished  from  that 
self-love  which  is  self-respect,  appreciation,  and  affirma- 
tion of  one's  o\^Ti  worth  and  dignity  and  even  rights. 
Such  love  of  self  is  proper  and  necessary,  for  worth 
in  the  self  has  the  same  value  and  rights  that  it  has  in 
others ;  and  unless  one  appreciates,  develops,  and  guards 
his  own  worth  he  has  nothing  with  which  to  love  others. 
The  command  to  "  love  thy  neighbour  as  thyself  "  en- 
joins the  love  of  self  as  the  prior  ground  and  means  of 
loving  one's  neighbour. 

But  selfishness  is  a  perversion  of  self-love  and  con- 
sists in  putting  the  interests  and  possessions,  pleasures 
and  passions  of  the  self  in  the  centre  and  on  the  throne 
as  the  supreme  principle  of  life.  It  subordinates  other 
persons  to  its  service  as  mere  means  to  its  own  end; 
weaves  other  lives  as  threads  into  its  own  web;  makes 
the  soul  wholly  absorbent,  so  that  it  is  a  sponge  sucking 
up  everything  and  creating  a  desert  around  it,  instead 


110       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

of  being  a  fountain  flinging  forth  streams  refreshing 
and  fertilizing  other  lives. 

Selfishness  is  the  essence  of  sin  because  it  always 
chooses  a  lower  good  on  the  scale  of  value  and  obliga- 
tion rather  than  a  higher  and  the  highest  good,  which 
is  the  perfection  of  social  life  and  the  perfect  life  of 
God.  In  thus  choosing  his  own  will  man  rebels  against 
God.  And  it  is  the  essence  of  sin  because  every  kind  of 
sin  is  a  form  of  selfishness.  The  sins  of  the  body,  such 
as  gluttony  and  intemperance,  are  all  forms  of  personal 
gratification.  Falsehood  and  dishonesty  are  obviously 
forms  of  selfishness.  And  the  more  spiritual  sins  of 
avarice,  ambition,  envy,  jealousy,  pride,  and  vanity  are 
equally  of  the  same  nature.  The  most  intellectual  un- 
belief may  involve  a  subtle  element  of  pride  of  opinion 
and  secret  reluctance  to  obey  the  truth  and  thereby  has 
a  core  of  selfishness  at  its  heart.  In  all  their  sins  men 
miss  the  true  mark  because  they  aim  at  a  lower  mark 
of  their  own  choosing;  they  pervert  the  right  and  trans- 
gress the  law  of  God  because  they  are  seeking  their  own 
will  and  pleasure.  It  is  human  selfishness,  then,  in  all 
its  myriad  manifestations  and  degrees,  dim-eyed  and 
blind  or  keen  and  cunning  in  its  purpose,  feeble  or 
enormous  in  its  power,  mild  or  malignant  in  its  indul- 
gence, that  turns  the  world  into  a  battle-field  of  strife 
and  blood  and  loads  it  with  all  its  crushing  weight  of 
wounds  and  woe. 

Dr.  A.  H.  Strong  quotes  Dr.  Samuel  Harris  as  fol- 
lows :  "  Sin  is  essentially  egoism  or  selfism,  putting  self 
in  God's  place.  It  has  four  principal  characteristics  or 
manifestations:  (1)  self-sufliciency,  instead  of  faith; 
(2)  self-will,  instead  of  submission;  (3)  self-seeking, 
instead  of  benevolence;  (4)  self -righteousness,  instead 
of  humility  and  reverence."    Dr.  Julius  Muller,  in  his 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  111 

classic  work  on  sin,  develops  this  view  at  great  length 
and  with  searching  analysis.  '^  The  idol,  therefore,"  he 
says,  "  which  man,  in  his  sin,  puts  in  the  place  of  God, 
can  be  no  other  than  his  oion  self.  The  individual  self, 
and  its  gratifications,  he  makes  the  highest  end  of  his 
life.  His  striving,  in  all  the  different  forms  and  direc- 
tions of  sin,  ever  has  self  ultimately  in  view;  the  inmost 
nature  of  sin,  the  principle  determining,  and  pervading 
it,  in  all  its  forms,  is  selfishness"  ^ 

The  effect  of  selfishness  is  to  crowd  God  out  of  the 
heart  and  life.  In  heathendom  it  has  been  said  that 
"everything  was  God  but  God  himself."  Heinrich 
Heine  declared :  "  I  am  no  child.  I  do  not  want  a 
heavenlv  Father  anv  more."  "  I  celebrate  mvself," 
boasts  Walt  Whitman.  "  If  I  worship  one  thing  more 
than  another,  it  shall  be  the  spread  of  my  own  body,  or 
any  part  of  it."  The  self  is  a  devouring  demon  or  mon- 
ster that  will  be  satisfied  with  nothing  less  than  the 
world  and  the  universe.  "  Every  self,  once  awakened,  is 
naturally  a  despot,  and  *  bears,  like  the  Turk,  no 
brother  near  the  throne.'  "  Absorbing  everything  into 
itself  it  becomes  "  that  man  of  sin,  who  opposeth  and 
exalteth  himself  above  all  that  is  called  God,  or  that  is 
worshipped;  so  that  he,  as  God,  sitteth  in  the  temple  of 
God,  shewing  himself  that  he  is  God"  (II  Thess.  2: 
3  4).  But  at  the  opposite  pole  the  greatest  Character 
of  history,  "  existing  in  the  form  of  God,  counted  not 
the  being  on  an  equality  with  God  a  thing  to  be  grasped, 
but  emptied  himself,  taking  the  form  of  a  servant,  being 
made  in  the  likeness  of  men;  and  being  in  fashion  as  a 

•  Tlie  Chriatinn  Doctrine  of  Sin,  Vol.  T,  p.  1:^5.  His  di^^cus8ion 
of  sin  as  selfishnt-ss  extends  throufjh  pp.  131-203;  and  his  dis- 
cussion of  sin  as  scnsuousneaa  and  as  finiteucss  througk  pp.  293- 
363. 


112       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

man,  he  humbled  himself,  becoming  obedient  even  unto 
death,  yea,  the  death  of  the  cross.  Wherefore  also  God 
highly  exalted  him,  and  gave  unto  him  the  name  which 
is  above  every  name;  that  in  the  name  of  Jesus  every 
knee  should  bow,  of  things  in  heaven  and  things  under 
the  earth,  and  that  every  tongue  should  confess  that 
Jesus  Christ  is  Lord,  to  the  glory  of  God  the  Father  " 
(Phil.  2:6-8). 

Sin  therefore  is  not  a  mere  negation,  the  absence  of 
good,  the  "  silence  implying  sound,"  but  a  positive 
action  of  the  human  will  and  heart.  It  is  man  in  the 
act  of  pulling  down  every  throne  that  should  rule  over 
him  and  assuming  and  asserting  his  own  sovereignty, 
as  Napoleon  clapped  the  imperial  crown  on  his  own 
head  in  Notre  Dame.  It  is  man's  rebellion  against 
every  principle  of  right  and  rule  of  authority  and 
usurping  the  very  throne  of  God. 

3.  Is  Sin  a  State  of  the  Soul? — A  question  of  great 
practical  importance  and  involved  in  some  of  the  deep- 
est problems  of  theology  is  whether  sin  consists  only  in 
conscious  volitions,  or  whether  it  also  inheres  in  states 
and  dispositions  of  the  soul.  There  are  several  grounds 
for  the  view  that  it  also  resides  in  disi)ositions  and 
states. 

The  disposition  of  the  soul  may  be  something  that 
ought  not  to  be,  a  wrong  or  evil  in  itself.  It  misses  the 
mark  and  perverts  the  idea  of  what  it  should  be  and 
transgresses  the  law  of  God.  It  is  of  the  nature  of  sin 
and  therefore  it  is  sin. 

But  it  mav  be  said  that  it  lacks  the  essential  element 
of  an  evil  choice,  the  choice  of  a  lower  in  the  presence 
of  a  higher  good.  The  character  of  the  soul,  however, 
is  itself  the  result  of  choice,  the  accumulated  deposit 
of  countless  volitions  which  have  left  each  one  an  atom 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  113 

of  habit  in  the  soul  and  thus  have  slowly  saturated  it 
with  evil.  Character  is  the  outgrowth  of  one's  whole 
past.  It  is  the  soil  that  has  been  formed  bj  all  one's 
action  falling  into  it,  as  the  loam  of  the  forest  is  formed 
by  its  owTi  leaves.  In  so  far  as  this  character  gives 
birth  to  our  wrong  choices  and  evil  deeds,  it  is  only 
giving  further  expression  to  our  own  free  will  as  ex- 
pressed in  all  these  past  actions.  Our  character  is 
only  our  own  free  will  cast  and  crystallized  into  habit 
and  disposition,  and  therefore  we  are  responsible  for  it. 
It  is  the  common  judgment  of  men  that  the  disposi- 
tion may  be  evil  in  itself  and  a  state  for  which  men  are 
responsible.  We  speak  of  "  a  bad  character,"  and  apply 
to  the  disposition  all  the  terms  of  responsibility  and 
guilt.  Kot  only  so,  but  we  do  not  know  how  to  judge 
one's  conscious  volitions  and  acts  until  we  know  the 
motives  and  disposition  out  of  which  they  spring.  If 
a  man  kills  another,  the  moral  nature  of  the  act  de- 
pends on  whether  he  did  it  without  malice  in  self- 
defence,  or  out  of  a  murderous  heart  in  hatred  and 
revenge.  The  disposition  determines  the  nature  of  the 
act  and  is  as  certainly  guilty  as  the  conscious  act  itself. 
In  judging  others  we  always  try  to  go  below  the  im- 
mediate act  to  the  heart  out  of  which  it  sprung;  and 
an  evil  heart,  so  far  from  excusing,  aggravates  guilt.  If 
a  man  were  not  chargeable  for  an  evil  disposition,  then 
the  worse  his  disposition  the  less  blameworthy  for  his 
evil  deeds  would  he  be.  On  this  theory  the  worst  man 
would  be  the  least  guilty,  and  this  absurdity  proves  the 
premise  must  be  wrong.  The  soul  makes  its  own  dis- 
position and  must  answer  for  it. 
/  The  deeper  question  whether  the  inherited  nature  is 
depraved  and  guilty  belongs  to  theology  rather  tlian  to 
psychology,  but  we  may  point  out  that  human  nature 


114       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

gives  every  evidence  of  being  twisted  or  wrung  and 
wrong  in  its  constitution,  and  it  therefore  misses  the 
mark  and  transgresses  the  law  of  God.  It  begins  to 
show  its  perversity  as  soon  as  it  begins  to  act  and  it 
calls  forth  the  universal  condemnation  of  men  as  a  cor- 
rupt thing.  Yet  we  do  not  regard  this  inherited  de- 
pravity and  original  sin  as  being  as  heinous  in  its 
nature  as  sinful  volitions  and  acquired  character,  and 
theology  of  various  schools  devises  means  by  which 
undeveloped  racial  guilt  is  relieved  of  the  consequences 
of  sin.  As  a  broad  principle  sin  does  not  become  sin 
for  which  we  must  answer  until  it  receives  our  consent, 
and  in  the  consent  lies  the  sin.  / 

II.    A  Study  of  Sin  in  Action 

Having  seen  the  psychological  nature  of  sin,  let  us 
now  look  at  sin  in  action.  And  at  this  point  we  can- 
not do  better  than  take  the  record  of  the  first  tempta- 
tion, as  set  forth  in  the  Third  Chapter  of  Genesis, 
which  has  never  been  surpassed  in  ethical  insight  and 
analysis  and  is  a  masterpiece  of  psychology. 

Xow  the  serpent  was  more  subtle  than  any  beast  of 
the  field  which  Jehovah  God  had  made.  And  he  said 
unto  the  woman,  Yea,  hath  God  ^aid.  Ye  shall  not  eat 
of  any  tree  of  the  garden?  And  the  woman  said  unto 
the  serpent,  Of  the  fruit  of  the  trees  of  the  garden  we 
may  eat :  but  of  the  fruit  of  the  tree  which  is  in  the 
midst  of  the  garden,  God  hath  said.  Ye  shall  not  eat 
of  it,  neither  shall  ve  touch  it,  lest  ve  die.     And  the 

/  t,  7  t 

serpent  said  unto  the  woman,  Ye  shall  not  surely  die: 
for  God  doth  know  that  in  the  day  ye  eat  thereof,  then 
your  eyes  shall  be  opened,  and  ye  shall  be  as  God, 
knowing  good  and  evil.  And  when  the  woman  saw  that 
the  tree  was  good  for  food,  and  that  it  was  a  delight  to 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  115 

the  eves,  and  that  the  tree  was  to  be  desired  to  make 
one  wise,  she  took  of  the  fruit  thereof,  and  did  eat ;  and 
she  gave  unto  her  husband,  and  he  did  eat  (Genesis 
3:1-6). 

Whatever  view  is  taken  of  the  literary  form  of  this 
narrative,  its  ethical  truth  and  religious  value  remain 
the  same.  This  temptation,  while  as  old  as  the  first 
human  sin,  in  its  essential  elements  is  as  modern  as  the 
latest  sin. 

This  concrete  instance  of  temptation  strikingly  illus- 
trates the  nature  of  sin  as  we  have  already  discovered 
it.  The  fatal  act  of  Eve  was  the  choice  of  a  lower  good 
in  the  presence  of  a  higher  good.  The  forbidden  fruit 
was  pleasant  and  good  in  itself,  but  in  comparison  and 
competition  with  the  express  command  or  the  wisdom 
and  will  of  God  it  fell  infinitely  below  it  and  thereby 
became  an  evil,  or  wrong,  or  sin.  It  was  also  an  act 
of  selfishness,  for  by  this  act  Eve  put  her  own  will  above 
the  will  of  God  and  her  selfish  gratification  above  the 
supreme  good  of  the  race. 

I.  Temptation  Tipped  v^ith  Doubt. — The  temptation 
begins  in  a  doubt  suggested  by  Satan  to  the  mind  of 
Eve.  The  tempter  approached  her  with  the  question, 
'  Yea,  hath  God  said,  Ye  shall  not  eat  of  any  tree  of 
the  garden?  "  The  question  seems  reasonable  and  inno- 
cent, and  yet  it  cunningly  conceals  a  poisoned  sug- 
gestion; for  it  as  mucli  as  says,  "  Is  it  possible  that 
God  would  be  so  unjust  and  unkind,  hard-licartod  and 
cruel  as  to  forbid  you  this  innocent  and  good  thing?" 
Tlie  woman  unsuspectingly  answered  that  they  were 
permit  led  to  oat  of  the  fruit  of  the  trees  of  the  garden, 
but  that  of  this  particular  tree  God  had  said,  "Ye 
shall  not  eat  of  it,  neither  shall  ye  touch  it,  lost  ye  die." 
Then  Satan  made  his  master  stroke.    Ue  gave  the  lie 


116       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

direct  to  God,  declaring  to  the  woman,  "  Ye  shall  not 
surely  die,"  and  went  on  to  accuse  God  of  denying 
them  this  tree  because  he  knew  it  would  make  them 
wise,  even  as  God  himself.  Eve  made  the  fatal  mistake 
of  parleying  with  t^<i  tempter  and  listening  to  this  evil 
suggestion  until  it  got  rooted  in  her  mind  and  she  began 
to  have  a  doubt  as  to  God's  wisdom  and  right  in  for- 
bidding her  to  eat  of  the  tree.  Thus  the  entering  edge 
of  this  sin,  the  poisoned  tip  of  this  arrow  of  tempta- 
tion, was  doubt  of  God.  When  her  faith  in  the  absolute 
goodness  and  wisdom  of  God  faltered  ever  so  little  she 
was  losing  her  balance  and  was  ready  to  slip  and  fall. 
And  this  is  still  often  a  first  step  in  temptation. 

Doubt  sometimes  has  a  legitimate  place  in  our  intel- 
lectual and  religious  life,  as  we  shall  see  later,  but  it  is 
also  often  a  guilty  thing  and  is  then  the  first  step 
towards  a  fall.  A  man  hardly  ever  does  a  wrong  thing 
until  he  at  least  momentarily  doubts  that  it  is  wrong 
and  persuades  himself  that  it  is  right.  He  first  doubts 
truth  and  duty,  righteousness  and  goodness,  and  then 
he  can  easily  see  wrong  things  in  the  coloured  light  of 
his  own  desires.  If  we  doubt  in  our  hearts  the  funda- 
mental verities  and  sanctities  of  life,  especially  if  we 
doubt  God  and  goodness,  we  have  weakened  our  faith 
and  courage  and  will  in  our  stand  against  temptation 
and  are  ready  to  slip  and  slide  into  a  lower  life,  if  not 
into  the  ditch.  "  As  a  man  thinketh  in  his  heart,  so  is 
he."  The  first  word  of  psychology  against  temptation 
is,  "  Keep  thy  heart  with  all  diligence ;  for  out  of  it  are 
the  issues  of  life  " ;  especially  does  it  bid  us  have  deep 
roots  of  fundamental  convictions  that  are  never  shaken  / 
with  doubt  and  can  stand  against  every  storm  of  temp-f 
tation. 

2.   Entrance  of  Temptation  Through  Sense  Percep- 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  117 

tion. — "  And  when  the  woman  saw  that  the  tree  was 
good  for  food."  The  suggestion  of  the  first  temptation, 
which  was  distrust  of  God,  entered  through  the  ear- 
gate,  and  this  second  suggestion  entered  through  the 
eje-gate.  All  our  senses  are  so  many  gates  which  are 
being  assailed  by  a  constant  series  of  assaults ;  for  as  a 
temptation  may  be  a  good  thing  in  competition  with  a 
higher  good,  all  the  countless  sounds,  sights,  and  other 
sensations  that  are  ceaselessly  pouring  in  upon  us  are 
possible  temptations. 

The  human  body  is  a  marvellous  mechanism  of  nerves, 
a  harp  of  a  million  strings,  and  it  is  played  upon  by 
all  the  Impacts  upon  the  senses  that  set  it  vibrating 
in  sensation.  These  sensations  kindle  in  the  soul  ideas 
and  feelings,  desires  and  passions,  and  may  set  it 
aflame  with  pleasure  or  consume  it  in  agony.  And  thus 
a  sight  or  a  sound,  perhaps  incidentally  and  acci- 
dentally caught  on  the  wing,  a  mere  flake  of  sensation 
that  lights  on  us  as  we  pass  along,  a  face  at  a  window, 
a  whiff  of  odour  or  a  strain  of  music  floating  out  of 
an  open  door,  a  gleam  of  gold  in  a  purse  or  the  flash  of 
a  jewel  on  a  hand,  a  mere  word  heard  in  a  crowd,  any 
sensation,  however  trivial  and  insignificant  it  may  seem, 
may  start  a  suggestion  that  tempts  us,  be  the  spark 
that  kindles  the  evil  nature  in  our  hearts.  And  as  our 
sensations  are  our  most  vivid  and  vital  forms  of  knowl- 
edge, they  cut  into  the  very  quick  of  the  soul  and  draw 
blood,  they  sway  us  at  times  with  sovereign  power  as 
tornadoes  sweep  their  way  through  forest  and  city. 
The  man  with  a  craving  for  strong  drink  is  in  the  grip 
of  his  appetite,  the  odour  of  the  saloon  as  he  passes  by 
is  a  match  to  the  tinder  of  his  desire,  and  he  is  almost 
irresistibly  taken  captive  by  his  sense  of  smell  and  be- 
comes its  pitiful  victim. 


118       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

And  the  senses  are  inlets,  not  only  to  temptations  of 
sensual  gratification,  but  also  to  the  more  refined  and 
spiritual  temptations  of  the  soul.  Ambition  and  pride 
were  kindled  in  Eve  by  the  suggestion  of  the  fruit  that 
could  make  her  wise,  and  the  world  in  all  its  million- 
fold  aspects  of  wealth  and  povrer,  position  and  influ- 
ence, is  appealing  to  our  ambition  and  vanity  and  self- 
ishness and  dropping  sparks  of  spiritual  temptation 
into  our  hearts.  Our  souls  are  highly  sensitive  and  ab- 
sorbent to  these  things  to  which  we  are  constantly 
exposed.  Like  men  carrying  packages  of  powder 
through  a  burning  building  we  are  loaded  with  explo- 
sive materials  in  our  natures  while  we  walk  through 
a  flaming  world  showering  sparks  upon  us  from  every 
side.  That  the  world  should  be  so  constituted  may 
seem  to  us  a  terrible  mystery  and  tragedy,  but  this  is 
its  stern  reality. 

3.  Association  Intensifies  Temptation. — We  next  see 
how  the  first  suggestion  of  temptation  is  intensified  by 
association.  The  woman's  mind  immediately  began  to 
multiply  associations  around  the  forbidden  fruit  and  to 
enhance  its  attractiveness.  She  ''  saw  that  the  tree  was 
good  for  food,  and  that  it  was  a  delight  to  the  eyes,  and 
that  the  tree  was  to  be  desired  to  make  one  wise  " : 
three  powerful  suggestions  giving  accumulated  charm 
and  force  to  the  temptation.  ^'  Good  for  food," — sin 
always  presents  itself  as  good,  clothes  itself  as  an  angel 
of  light,  and  hardly  ever  does  one  deliberately  do  a 
wrong  until  he  has  found  some  justification  for  it  and 
persuaded  himself  it  is  right  and  good. 

And  it  was  "  a  delight  to  the  eyes," — it  was  not  only 
good  but  also  beautiful,  an  appeal  to  her  esthetic  na- 
ture. Sin  is  not  always  coarse  but  may  be  something 
fine.    The  artistic  nature  in  us  is  a  fine-stringed  harp 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  119 

capable  of  exquisite  music,  one  of  the  great  joys  of 
the  world,  but  it  is  also  a  source  of  danger  and  may  be 
full  of  discord  and  tragedy,  as  all  the  history  of  art  and 
artists  shows. 

And  "  to  be  desired  to  make  one  wise," — this  is  some- 
thing higher  and  finer  still.  It  is  an  appeal  to  the  in- 
tellectual and  moral  nature,  to  the  thirst  for  knowledge 
that  has  driven  the  human  mind  to  such  high  en- 
deavours and  grand  achievements,  and  to  the  very 
search  for  wisdom  that  leads  the  soul  deepest  into  the 
meaning  of  life  and  closest  to  the  will  of  God. 

Thus  the  mind  and  imagination  of  Eve  played  around 
and  brooded  over  this  forbidden  thing.  It  multiplied  in 
her  mind  rich  and  alluring  associations  and  kindled 
ever  stronger  desires,  hushed  all  the  voices  of  duty  and 
danger  and  fear,  lulled  into  a  deeper  sleep  her  sense  of 
obligation  to  God,  laid  an  ever  more  fascinating  and 
fatal  spell  on  her  senses,  until  it  obsessed  her  whole 
soul  and  she  was  ready  for  the  decisive  deed.  This  is 
the  psychology  of  all  deliberate  sin.  It  is  a  growth. 
It  begins  with  a  sense  perception  or  with  an  idea  which 
attracts  to  itself  all  the  kindred  associations  of  the 
mind  that  enrich  and  strengthen  it;  it  weaves  around 
itself  a  web  of  witchery.  It  crowds  its  guilt  and  fatal 
consequences  into  the  background  and  hides  all  its 
repulsive  features  in  a  halo  of  light,  it  roots  itself  in 
the  whole  heart,  and  thus  it  decides  and  moves  the  will. 
The  devil  is  a  master  psychologist  and  knows  how  to 
play  on  all  the  comi)lex  strings  and  keys  of  the  human 
heart. 

And  this  suggests  the  way  to  resist  tem])tntion.  The 
iniiibitory  ideas  and  associations  must  ho  aroused  and 
rushed  to  the  rescue.  Lying  around  on  the  mnrgin  of 
the  mind  in  a  uioi-e  or  less  dim  and  dormant  state  are 


120       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

various  ideas  and  feelings  that  are  opposed  to  the  cen- 
tral idea  that  is  the  temptation.  Just  at  this  point 
lies  our  chief  power  and  responsibility.  We  can  turn 
our  attention  to  these  marginal  ideas  and  intensify 
them  so  that  they  will  take  the  centre  of  consciousness 
and  crowd  out  the  evil  thought.  If  Eve  had  fixed  her 
mind  on  the  duty  of  loyalty  to  God  and  of  trusting  his 
wisdom  and  will,  however  strange  and  even  unkind  and 
cruel  it  seemed ;  if  she  had  considered  the  danger  that 
lurked  in  that  forbidden  fruit  so  that  she  would  have 
seen  that  its  rosy  glow  was  as  the  hectic  flush  of  a 
deadly  fever  or  the  gleaming  fires  of  hell ;  if  she  had  pic- 
tured the  possible  consequences  of  disobedience  and  seen 
the  flaming  sword  shutting  her  from  the  garden,  she 
would,  like  Jesus  in  the  wilderness,  have  resisted  the 
devil  until  he  would  have  fled  into  the  darkness  whence 
he  came. 

The  tempted  soul  can  always  arouse  and  marshal 
opposing  ideas,  fears  of  consequences  and  feelings  of 
loyalty  and  right  and  duty,  and  thus  check  the  insur- 
gent temptation  and  drive  it  from  the  centre  of  atten- 
tion and  out  of  the  field  of  consciousness.  Association 
is  just  as  strong  a  power  for  good  as  it  is  for  evil.  It 
can  weave  webs  of  fascination  and  paint  pictures  that 
will  make  good  look  attractive  and  evil  repulsive.  And 
when  association  has  deep  roots  of  faith  and  the  fruit- 
age of  a  rich  mind  and  good  life  to  draw  from,  it  can 
marshal  such  forces  of  character  and  resolution  as  will 
conquer  spiritual  hosts  of  wickedness,  ''  casting  down 
imaginations,  and  every  high  thing  that  is  exalted 
against  the  knowledge  of  God,  and  bringing  every 
thought  into  captivity  to  the  obedience  of  Christ." 
This  is  the  victory  that  overcomes  the  world. 

4.  The  Act  of  Sin. — This  brings  us  to  the  decisive 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  121 

act  and  deed  of  sin.  "  She  took  of  the  fruit  thereof,  and 
did  eat."  She  did  this  deed.  Satan  did  not  do  it  for 
her,  and  the  tree  did  not  do  it,  the  garden  did  not  do  it, 
her  environment  and  circumstances  did  not  do  it,  and 
God  did  not  do  it.  And  it  was  not  her  heredity  that 
led  her  to  do  this  deed,  and  it  was  not  even  the  pleasant 
associations  that  enriched  the  fruit  with  goodness  and 
beauty  and  charm  that  did  it,  but  ^'she  took  thereof, 
and  did  eat."  This  deed  was  her  own  personal,  indi- 
vidual, wilful,  responsible  act,  and  the  blame  of  it  must 
rest  on  her  forever. 

And  so  is  it  with  every  sinner  and  every  sin.  What- 
ever conditions  of  heredity  and  birth,  training  and  op- 
portunity, whatever  means  and  motives  entered  into 
it,  whatever  the  depraved  disposition  out  of  which  it 
sprung,  every  sin  is  the  sinner's  ow^n  personal  respon- 
sible act,  and  he  cannot  roll  the  blame  of  it  on  anybody 
or  anything  else.  Of  course  heredity  and  disposition 
and  training  and  circumstances  do  enter  into  and 
modify  the  degree  of  guilt.  No  two  men  are  any  more 
alike  in  their  inner  nature  than  in  their  outer  circum- 
stances, in  their  sin  than  in  their  goodness;  yet  every 
soul  commits  its  own  sin  and  must  bear  the  burden  of 
its  own  guilt.  "  So  then  each  of  us  shall  give  account 
of  himself  to  God." 

The  tendency  is  strong  in  our  day  to  tone  down  the 
guilt  of  sin  and  resolve  it  into  heredity  and  environ- 
ment, or  to  roll  it  upon  the  social  order.  Had  heredity 
is  supposed  to  foreordain  a  man  to  a  criminal  career, 
and  the  social  order  is  held  responsible  for  all  human 
sins.  If  we  were  only  all  born  of  i)ure  blood  and  espe- 
cially if  we  were  only  placed  in  a  just  and  good  and 
beautiful  social  order  in  which  we  would  all  have  com- 
fortable homes  and  line  clothes  and  pleuty  to  eat  and 


122       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

little  to  do,  we  would  all  be  good.  But  the  history  of 
this  first  sin  does  not  bear  out  this  ros}^  view.  There 
was  nothing  wrong  with  the  heredity  of  Eve,  and  the 
pleasant  garden  did  not  save  her  from  falling  into  sin : 
rather  it  was  the  very  occasion  and  temptation  of  her 
sin.  All  human  history  shows  that  increase  of  wealth 
is  not  in  itself  a  safeguard  of  virtue,  but  is  often  a 
rank  soil  out  which  grow  scarlet  sins  of  the  vilest 
rottenness  and  deepest  guilt.  A  bad  social  order  ag- 
gravates human  ill  and  evil  and  every  effort  should  be 
made  to  correct  it,  but  it  is  not  the  real  root  and  cause 
of  human  sin.  Bad  environment  does  not  make  evil 
souls  so  much  as  evil  souls  make  bad  environment.  The 
soul  is  not  the  slave  of  its  circumstances,  but  is  rather 
their  master  and  sits  upon  its  own  throne. 

We  are  here  face  to  face  with  the  fact  of  the  sov- 
ereignty of  the  human  soul  over  its  ethical  life.  As  we 
have  already  seen,  the  contents  of  consciousness,  its 
sense  perceptions,  ideas,  memories,  feelings,  associa- 
tions, are  not  an  ungovernable  flood  on  which  the  will 
floats  rudderless  and  helpless,  but  the  soul  has  its  own 
rudder  and  engine  by  which  it  can  steer  and  drive  its 
boat  to  its  own  destination.  It  can  throw  its  attention 
upon  any  point  in  its  consciousness,  as  a  searchlight 
can  be  thrown  around  the  horizon,  and  wiierever  it 
falls  and  is  fixed  the  idea  under  its  light  blazes  up 
into  vividness  and  glowing  heat  and  power  and  becomes 
the  controlling  centre  of  the  mind  and  life.  Eve  chose 
to  magnify  the  attractive  associations  of  the  forbidden 
fruit,  instead  of  choosing  to  intensify  its  hidden  sting 
and  poison  and  to  emphasize  and  deepen  her  sense  of 
the  goodness  and  beauty  and  blessedness  of  obedience 
to  God;  and  essentially  the  same  psychological  process 
takes  place  in  every  sinner  in  the  act  of  sin.    The  soul 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  123 

\ 

has  various  competitive  objects  in  its  field  of  conscious- 
ness, some  of  which  it  knows  are  of  higher  worth  and 
obligation  than  others ;  it  always  has  the  power  of  mak- 
ing its  choice  and  fixing  its  attention  upon  one  rather 
than  upon  another,  and  then  of  multiplying  and  en- 
hancing its  associations  and  motives  until  they  carry 
the  will  as  with  a  flood  into  decision  and  action.  This 
is  the  inescapable  point  of  human  responsibility.  Psy- 
chology is  severelv  orthodox  at  this  point  and  fixes  the 
guilt  of  sin  on  the  sinner  himself. 

5.  The  Sense  of  Sin. — The  act  of  sin  in  an  unseared 
conscience  is  followed  by  the  sense  of  sin.  Immediately 
after  the  first  sin  ''  the  eyes  of  them  both  were  opened," 
and  they  were  aware  of  their  physical  and  moral  naked- 
ness. A  sense  of  guilt  filled  them  with  fear  and  they 
hid  in  the  garden  of  the  Lord  from  the  Lord  of  the 
garden. 

Sin  seizes  the  soul  with  a  sense  of  its  guilt  and  vile- 
ness  and  degradation.  The  purer  the  soul  the  deeper 
and  keener  this  sense  of  the  wrong  and  bitterness  of 
sin.  Often  the  act  of  sin  is  instantly  followed  with  an 
awful  sense  of  guilt  and  remorse.  The  soul  may  ago- 
nize and  cry  out  in  despair.  But  this  sense  of  guilt 
becomes  hardened  through  repeated  acts  of  sin  until 
conscience  is  seared  and  hardened  and  guilt  almost 
ceases  to  be  felt. 

The  sense  of  sin  varies  as  widely  in  its  forms  and 
feelings  as  individual  souls  differ  in  their  constitution 
and  temperament  and  in  all  the  circumstances  of  their 
temptation  and  fall.  Professor  E.  I).  Starburk  made 
an  inductive  study  of  '' preconversion '■  exi)erience  by 
sending  out  a  list  of  questions  to  about  two  hundred 
persons  asking  for  personal  details  in  the  matter  and 
then  tabulating  tiie  answers,     lie  summarizes  the  re- 


124       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

suit  as  follows :  "  There  are  many  shades  of  experience 
in  the  preconversion  state.  An  attempt  at  classifica- 
tion of  them  gave  these  not  very  distinct  groups : — Con- 
viction of  sin  proper ;  struggle  after  the  new  life ;  prayer, 
calling  on  God;  doubts  and  questionings;  tendency  to 
resist  conviction ;  depression  and  sadness ;  restlessness, 
anxiety  and  uncertainty;  helplessness  and  humility; 
earnestness  and  seriousness;  and  the  various  bodily 
affections.  The  result  of  an  analysis  of  these  different 
shades  of  experience  coincides  with  the  common  desig- 
nation of  this  preconversion  state  in  making  the 
central  fact  in  it  all  the  sense  of  sin,  while  the  other 
conditions  are  various  manifestations  of  this,  as  deter- 
mined, first,  hy  differences  in  temperament,  and,  second, 
hi/  whether  the  ideal  life  or  the  sinful  life  is  vivid  in 
consciousness.  .  .  .  The  cases  arrange  themselves  pretty 
naturally  in  two  series.  In  the  first  place,  they  form  a 
series  as  determined  by  temperament.  There  are  those 
at  one  end  of  the  line,  who  are  thrown  back  on  them- 
selves, and  who  remain  helpless,  depressed  and  es- 
tranged from  God.  At  the  other  extreme  are  those 
who  reach  out  in  the  direction  of  the  new  life,  who 
strive  toward  it,  and  pray  toward  it,  or,  if  the  forces 
which  awaken  the  impulse  toward  the  higher  life  have 
dawned  unawares  and  in  spite  of  themselves,  they  wil- 
fully oppose  the  new  influences.  Between  these  two 
extremes  are  those  w^ho  are  eminently  conscious  of  sin, 
but  remain  poised  in  a  state  of  restlessness  and  anxiety, 
or  who  vacillate  between  activity  and  passivity.  This 
temperamental  series,  that  is,  ranges  all  the  way  from 
persons,  on  the  one  hand,  who  are  passive,  to  those,  on 
the  other,  who  are  active  and  positive."  ^ 
The  various  experiences  of  sin  may  also  be  viewed  or 

*  The  Psychology  of  Religion,  pp.  58-59. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  125 

classified  with  reference  to  the  dominant  object  on 
which  the  sense  of  it  fastens  itself.  This  object  may  be 
the  sinner's  self  as  he  is  conscious  of  having  violated 
his  own  sense  of  right  and  dignity  and  self-respect, 
of  having  polluted  his  own  purity  and  marred  his  own 
worth.  He  is  conscious  of  having  lost  his  own  soul, 
and  this  sting  may  go  deep  and  inflict  great  suffering. 
Or  the  sense  of  sin  may  fasten  on  the  fellow-man  whom 
the  sinner  has  wronged.  The  offender  is  then  conscious 
of  having  invaded  and  violated  the  rights  of  another 
and  of  having  wronged  him  in  his  person  or  property 
or  reputation,  or  of  having  stained  and  corrupted  his 
soul,  and  this  fills  him  with  regret  and  remorse. 

The  sense  of  sin,  however,  when  it  follows  out  its 
logical  implications  and  incidences,  runs  up  against 
God  as  the  first  and  the  final  object  of  its  transgression 
and  wrong.  The  soul  is  conscious  of  having  violated 
his  law  of  truth  and  right  and  of  having  offended  his 
justice  and  goodness  and  grace.  This  sense  of  sin 
against  God  ranges  in  directness  and  degree  from  a 
faint  conception  and  feeling  of  '^  uneasiness  in  the  pres- 
ence of  the  higher  powers,"  to  revert  to  Professor 
James's  phrase,  to  the  intense  consciousness  that  the 
offence  against  God  swallows  up  all  other  aspects  and 
consequences  of  sin,  and  the  penitent  soul  cries  out, 
*'  Against  thee,  thee  only,  have  I  sinned,  and  done  evil 
in  thy  sight." 

The  sense  of  sin  may  also  predominately  fasten  itself 
on  some  sfKicial  idea  or  aspect  of  it.  It  may  be  con-^ 
scious  chiefly  of  its  pollution,  its  wrong,  its  guilt,  its 
remorse,  or  its  retribution.  Its  pollution  is  the  stain 
with  which  sin  spoils  the  purity  and  beauty  of  the 
soul  and  corrupts  it  with  its  vileness.  Its  wrong  is  the 
fact  that  the  soul  fell  below  its  own  sense  of  value  and 


126       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

obligation  and  chose  a  lower  in  the  presence  of  a  higher 
good.  Its  guilt  is  the  sense  of  having  violated  the  law 
and  justice  of  God  so  as  to  be  responsible  to  him.  The 
remorse  of  sin  is  its  ^^  biting  "  the  soul,  as  the  word 
means,  gnawing  at  its  very  vitals  with  distress  and  in- 
tolerable pain.  The  retribution  of  sin  is  the  penalty . 
paid  back  by  it  to  justice  as  its  due  return.  The 
enlightened  soul  may  have  a  deep  sense  that  its  sin 
violates  the  justice  of  God  and  owes  to  it  the  satisfac- 
tion of  its  own  penalty  and  pain. 

This  aspect  of  sin  runs  into  the  question  of  why 
punishment  for  sin  is  inflicted  and  endured,  a  point 
that  goes  deep  into  government  both  human  and  di- 
vine and  mav  determine  our  doctrine  of  the  atonement. 
One  theory  is  that  punishment  is  inflicted  only  as  a 
reforming  and  deterrent  instrument  in  its  influence  on 
the  offender  and  on  others.  Of  course  punishment  does 
have  this  effect,  and  this  is  one  of  its  incidental  objects ; 
but  it  is  not  its  direct  and  main  end.  The  direct 
ground  of  punishment  is  the  ill  desert  of  sin  and  its  y'J 
direct  object  is  the  satisfaction  of  the  justice  it  has< 
violated.    This  is  intuitively  perceived  and  felt  by  the  ; 

conscience  as  the  ultimate  fact  in  the  nature  of  law  and  j 

justice.    To  punish  a  man  to  deter  him  or  others  from  j 

wrong  acts  not  yet  committed  is  itself  an  act  of  in-  ; 

justice.    It  is  doing  wrong  in  the  hope  that  right  may  \ 

result,  evil  that  good  may  come,  and  this  is  a  self-  , 

contradictory   principle   that  never   can   be  justified.  \ 

Punishment  is  just  only  when  it  is  inflicted  as  the  due  ' 

desert  of  sin,  and  then  it  may  act  as  a  reforming  and 
deterring  influence  on  the  individual  and  in  society  as  ^  « 

its  indirect  result  and  aim.  ! 

Instances  are  not  infrequent  of  men  that  have  com- 
mitted sin,  which  was  covered  up  and  forgotten,  and  ; 


.^y 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  127 

that  afterwards  led  lives  of  respectability  and  success. 
But  the  hidden  sin  kept  burrowing  and  gnawing  deep 
in  their  souls,  burning  them  as  a  pent-up  fire  and  tor- 
menting them  as  flames  of  hell.  A  sense  of  their  guilt 
and  just  desert  of  retribution  gave  them  no  rest,  until 
at  length  they  unbosomed  themselves  in  public  con- 
fession and  not  only  exposed  their  guilt  but  asked  and 
demanded  punishment  as  their  just  retribution  and 
satisfaction  to  human  and  divine  justice.  The  human 
heart  is  tremendously  orthodox  at  this  point  and  often 
insists  on  paying  the  price  and  penalty  of  sin,  however 
bitter  it  mav  be. 

Literature  bears  abundant  witness  to  this  solemn 
fact.  Victor  Hugo  gives  a  memorable  instance  of  it  in 
Jean  Yaljean,  Greek  tragedy-  voices  its  inexorability,  fic- 
tion and  poetry,  drama  and  painting  portray  it  in 
powerful  forms  and  vivid  colours,  and  from  a  cross  on 
Calvary  floats  a  voice  declaring,  in  the  agony  of  death, 
**  And  we  indeed  justly ;  for  w^e  receive  the  due  reward 
of  our  deeds."  Retributive  justice  is  an  essential  ele- 
ment in  the  divine  nature,  a  foundation  stone  of  the 
throne  of  the  universe.  ^'  Be  not  deceived ;  God  is  not 
mocked :  for  whatsoever  a  man  soweth,  that  shall  he 
also  reap.'' 

6.  The  Enslavement  and  Contagion  of  Sin. — Sin  fol- 
lows the  law  of  ha])it.  A  wrong  choice  tends  to  repeat 
itself.  An  evil  deed  leaves  a  network  of  associations  in 
the  mind,  and  on  the  next  occasion  of  temptation  this 
network  revives  its  tendency  and  power  and  lures  or 
drags  tlie  soul  back  into  the  same  deed.  Ke|K^tition 
grows  into  a  habit,  and  one  habit  associates  itself  with 
others  and  grows  into  a  system  of  habits  or  character. 
Evil  acts  and  hahijs  also  react  on  the  nature  of  the 
soul,  leaving  a  deposit  of  evil   in  the  heart,  and  this 


128       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

process  goes  on  until  the  whole  soul  is  stained  and 
saturated  with  evil  and  hardened  into  an  evil  disposi- 
tion. Conscience  slowly  loses  its  sensitiveness  and  be- 
comes seared  and  can  in  time  consent  to  the  wickedest 
or  vilest  deeds  without  compunction.  Men  thus  become  . 
"  wise  to  do  evil,"  "  hardened  sinners,"  and  "  dead  in  ^ 
trespasses  and  sins." 

As  every  one  sees  the  world  through  his  own  soul  so 
that  he  sees  things  not  only  as  they  are  but  also  as  he 
is,  when  one  is  soaked  and  corrupted  with  any  form  of 
evil,  such  as  avarice  or  lust,  everything  stirs  this  evil 
nature  in  him,  and  finally  he  sees  the  whole  glorious 
universe,  which  to  the  good  and  beautiful  soul  is  only  a 
scene  of  divine  purity  and  splendour,  as  a  hideous  mass 
of  corruption. 

The  soul  is  thus  enslaved  in  bondage  that  may  be  more 
binding  and  bitter  than  prison  bars  or  slave-driver's 
lash.  The  worst  master  any  one  can  have  over  him  is 
an  evil  disposition  within  him.  A  spirit  of  consuming 
egoism  and  selfishness,  or  of  irritability  and  evil  tem- 
per, or  of  suspicion  and  jealousy  and  hatred  and  malice, 
blinds  and  binds  the  soul  as  in  a  prison  cell.  Evil 
habits  become  the  most  galling  chains  that  strong  cry- 
ing and  tears  cannot  break.  No  slavery  is  so  dreadful 
as  that  of  a  nature  saturated  with  sin  and  bound  with 
evil  habit.  Many  a  man  beats  against  the  prison  bars 
of  his  own  soul  and  cries  out  in  his  despair,  "O 
wretched  man  that  I  am!  who  shall  deliver  me  from 
the  body  of  this  death?"  And  yet  this  terrible  im- 
prisonment does  not  excuse  him  from  responsibility  for 
his  condition,  for  it  is  the  outgrowth  and  fruitage  of 
his  repeated  acts  of  free  choice,  and  he  is  simply  eat- 
ing of  the  fruit  of  his  own  doings. 

While  sin  is  enslaving  to  the  self  it  is  also  contagious 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  129 

to  others.  The  woman  "  gave  also  unto  her  husband, 
and  he  did  eat."  And  Adam,  having  caught  the  infec- 
tion, immediately  showed  the  working  of  sin  in  himself. 
He  became  adept  at  excusing  himself  and  blaming 
somebody  else.  "  And  the  man  said,  The  woman  whom 
thou  gavest  to  be  with  me,  she  gave  me  of  the  tree,  and 
I  did  eat."  He  took  fifteen  words  to  tell  what  the 
woman  had  done  and  only  three  words  to  tell  what  he 
had  done.  The  self-deception  of  sin  at  once  began  to 
blind  the  soul,  and  the  art  of  blaming  others  was  born 
full-grown  and  expert  into  the  world.  Thus  the  con- 
tagion of  sin  infected  the  race  at  the  fountain  head 
and  started  its  virus  coursing  down  the  veins  of  all 
succeeding  generations. 

That  sin  is  catching  is  one  of  the  most  obvious  facts 
of  the  world.  The  human  soul  is  intensely  social  and^ 
absorbent  and  readily  gives  and  receives  both  good  and 
evil.  An  evil  state  in  one  heart  begets  a  like  evil  state 
in  another  heart  by  a  process  of  induction  or  sugges- 
tion. Language  is  a  living  stream  of  communication 
which  transmits  thoughts,  feelings,  states  and  deeds 
and  habits  from  one  person  to  another;  and  all  actions, 
gestures,  tones  of  the  voice,  play  of  the  features  and 
glances  of  the  eye  are  subtle  channels  of  transmission 
from  one  soul  to  another.  The  whole  contents  of  the 
soul  may  thus  pour  in  a  flood  into  another  soul  and 
fill  it  with  its  good  or  evil.  A  word,  a  touch,  an  ex- 
pression of  the^  face  or  eye  may  be  the  infection  by 
which  one  soul  poisons  and  pollutes  another.  All  social 
institutions  and  means  of  instruction  recognize  this 
contagion  of  evil,  and  many  precepts  and  proverbs  in 
all  languages  warn  against  it.  "  Evil  communications 
corrupt  good  manners."  We  warn  our  children  against 
evil  companions  and  try  to  guard  them  against  all  evil 


130       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

infection.  Particular  kinds  of  evil  may  run  in  families, 
or  communities,  or  races,  and  some  families,  such  as  the 
^^  Jukes  "  family,  have  become  notorious  for  the  bad 
character  transmitted  and  bred  from  generation  to 
generation.  Evil  gravitates  to  and  generates  in  the 
slums  of  cities,  and  particular  places  become  breeding 
grounds  and  plague  spots  of  sin  and  crime.  Saloons 
and  dens  of  vice  are  pests  that  spread  their  evil  con- 
tagion abroad  and  poison  whole  neighbourhoods  and 
infect  the  very  air. 

Thus  sin  is  a  terrible  power  that  enslaves  the  sinner 
and  a  highly  contagious  disease  that  spreads  through 
society  and  has  infected  the  whole  of  humanity.  The 
prophet  Isaiah's  diagnosis  of  his  own  nation  applies  to 
all  the  world :  "  xlh,  sinful  nation,  a  people  laden  with 
iniquity,  a  seed  of  evil-doers,  children  that  are  corrupt- 
ers !  .  .  .  From  the  sole  of  the  foot  even  unto  the  head 
there  is  no  soundness  in  it;  but  wounds,  and  bruises, 
and  putrifying  sores"  (Isaiah  1:4,  6). 

III.    Is  THE  Sense  of  Sin  Declining? 

This  question  is  usually  answered  in  the  affirmative. 
The  pulpit  proclaims  the  fact  of  such  decline,  religious 
newspapers  and  magazines  publish  it,  and  people  gen- 
erally affirm  and  feel  it.  What  can  be  said  as  to  this 
evident  change  ? 

I.  Abatement  of  the  General  Sense  of  Fear.— There 
has  been  an  abatement  of  the  general  sense  of  fear.  In 
ancient  times  it  was  believed  that  the  world  swarmed 
with  evil  demons  that  lurked  in  every  object,  waiting 
and  watching  to  seize  their  human  victims.  They  in- 
fested every  forest,  hovered  over  every  path  and  hid 
behind  or  within  every  stone,  and  were  the  cause  of  dis- 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  131 

ease  and  of  every  disaster,  such  as  fire  and  flood,  and 
of  every  individual  misfortune.  This  is  still  the  pre- 
vailing belief  among  primitive  people,  such  as  savages, 
and  in  some  heathen  countries,  such  as  China,  and  it 
fills  the  world  with  fears  and  makes  life  a  constant  ter- 
ror. Science  has  swept  these  demons  out  of  the  world 
and  made  it  a  safe  place.  It  has  also  removed  or 
relieved  many  other  fears,  such  as  witches  and  ghosts, 
and  has  cleared  up  the  apparent  confusion  and  caprice 
of  nature  into  law  and  order.  All  this  has  greatly 
abated  fear  and  increased  the  sense  of  security  and  life 
has  lost  much  of  its  mvsterv  and  dread. 

a.  V 

This  decline  of  fear  in  general  has  had  some  effect  in 
abating  the  fear  of  sin.  Men  have  connected  religious 
fear  with  these  fears  that  have  vanished  and  think  that 
it  mav  be  onlv  another  false  alarm  and  not  so  serious 
after  all.  Thev  mav  feel  that  it  is  a  childish  weakness 
to  fear  sin  and  declare  that  they  refuse  to  be  caught 
and  cowed  by  this  religious  ghost. 

Beyond  this  place  of  wrath  and  tears 
Looms  but  the  Horror  of  the  shade, 

And  yet  the  menace  of  the  years 
Finds  and  shall  find  me  unafraid. 

Yet  on  what  meat  have  men  been  feeding  that  they 
have  grown  so  great  as  to  outgrow  fear?  Do  they  not 
still  fear  fire  and  flood  and  disease  and  is  not  fear  a 
fundMmental  fact  and  safeguard  of  our  life  at  a  thou- 
sand points?  And  if  we  expori(*nre  and  ai*e  governed 
by  fear  on  the  lower  levels  of  lif(\  why  not  on  the 
higher?  If  human  justice  is  a  true  giound  of  fear  to 
evil-doers,  is  there  not  an  infinitely  greater  ground  to 
fear  the  justice  and  judgment  of  Alnii^'hty  (iod?    There 


132       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

is  much  to  justify  the  general  abatement  of  fear  and 
this  has  relieved  our  life  of  much  terror  and  has  blessed 
it,  but  we  go  too  far  and  rebound  to  an  opposite  ex- 
treme and  will  surely  run  into  ruin  if  we  eliminate  the 
fear  of  sin  and  treat  it  as  a  light  thing.  ^'  The  fear  of 
the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom." 

2.  Reaction  Against  Extreme  Views  of  Hell. — There 
has  been  a  decided  reaction  against  extreme  views  of 
hell.  The  old  view  of  hell  was  that  it  was  a  literal 
lake  or  furnace  of  fire  in  w^hich  the  lost  forever  burned 
and  raved  in  physical  agony.  The  horrible  scenes  por- 
trayed in  Dante's  Inferno  expressed  the  literal  belief 
of  the  Middle  Ages,  and  the  terrible  illustrations  sup- 
plied to  the  poem  by  Dore  have  given  further  expres- 
sion to  the  same  view.  This  doctrine  has  passed  out  of 
our  theology  and  preaching.  It  is  not  supported  by 
a  true  understanding  of  Scripture  and  is  intolerable  to 
our  views  of  God.  Reaction  against  one  extreme  nearly 
always  swings  to  another,  and  this  has  taken  place 
at  this  point.  The  flames  of  hell  have  almost  died  out 
in  the  pulpit.  Only  sensational  evangelists  now  preach 
them  in  lurid  rhetoric,  and  even  they  are  not  taken  seri- 
ously by  the  audiences  that  listen  to  them  with  scarcely 
concealed  incredulity  and  with  lightness  of  mind  that 
in  the  midst  of  such  discourses  is  ready  to  ripple  into 
a  smile  or  break  into  laughter. 

This  change  in  the  form  in  which  the  doctrine  of 
future  punishment  is  held  and  preached  has  undoubt- 
edly abated  the  sense  of  sin.  Men  do  not  fear  spiritual 
retribution  as  they  did  literal  flames.  The  modern  hell 
is  sometimes  represented  as  a  quite  tolerable  if  not  a 
comfortable  and  respectable  place,  and  men  are  not  in- 
clined to  take  it  seriously.  In  passing  from  one  form 
of  a  doctrine  to  another  there  is  always  danger  of 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  133 

losing  something  in  the  transition,  and  it  takes  time  to 
realize  that  a  spiritual  hell  may  be  as  terrible  as  a  lake 
of  fire. 

3.  Changed  Views  of  the  Character  of  God. — 
Changed  views  of  the  character  of  God  have  also  af- 
fected our  sense  of  sin.  The  old  theology  and  modes 
of  preaching  painted  God  in  terrible  colours.  In  his 
famous  sermon  on  "  Sinners  in  the  Hands  of  an  Angry 
God,"  Jonathan  Edwards  addresses  sinners  in  the  fol- 
lowing language:  "  The  God  that  holds  you  over  the  pit 
of  hell  much  as  one  holds  a  spider  or  some  loathsome 
insect  over  the  fire,  abhors  you,  and  is  dreadfully  pro- 
voked ;  His  wrath  towards  you  burns  like  fire ;  He  looks 
upon  you  as  worthy  of  nothing  else  but  to  be  cast  into 
the  fire;  He  is  of  purer  eyes  than  to  bear  you  in  His 
sight ;  you  are  ten  thousand  times  as  abominable  in  His 
e^'es,  as  the  most  hateful  and  venomous  serpent  is  in 
ours.*'  Jonathan  Edwards  believed  in  the  literal  real- 
ity of  this  dreadful  picture  and  his  audience  believed  in 
it,  and  this  fact  gave  the  sermon  its  terrible  power. 
People  cried  out  and  fell  down  upon  the  floor  under  its 
awful  judgments.  But  such  a  sermon  would  not  be 
preached  in  any  enlightened  Christian  pulpit  to-day.  A 
change  of  climate  has  come  over  our  views  of  God  and 
we  think  of  him  as  the  Father  of  our  spirits  and  a  God 
of  mercv  and  love. 

The  modern  view  is  nearer  Scripture  teaching  and  is 
truer  to  the  God  and  Father  of  our  Lord  Jesus  Christ, 
but  like  other  reactions  against  extremes  it  is  in  dan- 
ger of  going  too  far  and  giving  us  a  soft  and  indulgent 
Father  who  will  not  deal  with  sin  severely.  According"^ 
to  this  conception,  God  is  too  kind  and  courteous  to 
hurt  us,  too  polite  to  punish  us.  Some  hold  that  "  God 
is  too  good  to  punish  sinners  and  sinners  are  too  good 


134       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

to  be  punished,"  and  any  such  view  will  greatly  weaken 
the  sense  of  sin.  Huxley  revolted  against  the  soft  sen- 
timent which  "  represents  Providence  under  the  guise 
of  a  paternal  philanthropist "  and  thought  the  old 
theologians  were  "  vastly  nearer  the  truth  than  the 
^  liberal '  popular  illusions  "  because  they  ^'  recognize 
the  realities  of  things."  ^ 

4.  Changed  Views  of  Sin  Itself. — Sin  itself  has  re- 
ceived some  explanations  that  explain  it  away.  One 
such  theory  denies  the  fact  of  sin  outright,  and  de- 
clares that  it  is  whollv  a  delusion  of  the  mind  and  that 
the  simple  way  to  get  rid  of  it  is  to  forget  it.  This 
theory  goes  to  pieces  on  the  sharp  and  terrible  rocks  of  j 
reality.  Any  pantheistic  or  deterministic  theory  of  the 
world  cuts  up  sin  by  the  roots  and  reduces  it  to  pure 
mechanism  and  necessity  so  that  it  is  no  more  a  guilty 
choice  and  act  than  the  growth  of  grass  or  the  fall  of  a 
stone,  and  such  views  have  been  popularized  in  much 
of  our  literature.  Socialism  is  predominately  material- 
istic and  deterministic  in  its  underlying  philosophy  and 
it  is  being  widely  diffused.  Many  have  also  largely 
resolved  sin  into  heredity  and  environment  and  a  wrong 
social  order.  Man  is  doomed  to  be  bad  by  his  bad  birth. 
Society  soaks  his  soul  in  the  slums,  and  how,  then,  can 
it  expect  him  to  be  good  ?  Unjust  poverty  and  the  dire 
necessity  of  hunger  drive  men  to  lie  and  steal  and 
thereby  render  virtue  a  physical  impossibility.  Adam 
blamed  his  sin  on  Eve,  Eve  blamed  it  on  the  serpent, 
and  thus  was  started  this  theory  of  rolling  sin  off  on 
the  environment  and  the  social  order.  Sin  thus  be- 
comes a  misfortune  and  not  a  fault,  and  the  sinner  is 
a  victim  and  not  an  offender.  He  has  not  done  wrong, 
but  wrong  has  been  done  to  him.  ^  He  does  not  owe 

*  See  The  World  a  Spiritual  8i/stem,  p.  277. 


THE  PSyCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  135 

penitence  to  God,  but  God  owes  Mm  an  apology.    As 
Omar  Khayyam  expresses  it: 

0  Thou,  who  Man  of  Baser  Earth  didst  make, 
And  even  with  Paradise  devise  a  Snake, 

For  all  the  Sin  wherewith  the  Face  of  Man 
la  blackened — Man's  forgiveness  give — and  take! 

Or  as  poor  James  Thomson  in  his  "  City  of  Dreadful 
Night "  expresses  it  more  boldly  if  not  blasphemously : 

Who  is  most  wretched  in  this  dolorous  place? 

I  think  myself;  yet  I  would  rather  be 

My  miserable  self  than  He,  than  He 
Who  formed  such  creatures  to  His  own  disgrace. 

These  pantheistic  and  deterministic  views  have  per- 
colated deeply  and  widely  through  our  literature  and 
life,  and  more  than  any  other  cause  they  have  weakened 
our  sense  of  sin. 

The  counteractive  to  this  error  is  the  appeal  to  and 
affirmation  of  our  intuitional  conscience  in  our  immedi- 
ate and  ineradicable  sense  of  free  agency  and  respon- 
sibility and  guilt  in  connection  with  our  sin,  a  re- 
sponsibility that  is  affirmed  in  all  the  laws  and  is 
reflected  in  all  the  literature  of  the  world  and  that 
'^  rolls  its  solemn  voice  through  all  the  ages. 

5.  Our  Modern  Life  Less  Subjective  and  More  Ob- 
jective.— There  has  been  in  our  day  a  marked  change  in 
the  nature  of  our  life.  In  former  days  life  was  more 
introspective  and  subjective.  People  were  moi-e  con- 
scious of  themselves  and  grew  meditative  and  morbid. 
They  looke<l  within  and  worked  much  with  their  in- 
wards. Thev  indiil'red  much  in  self  examination.  They 
held  fast  davs  when  thev  shut  out  the  world,  reduced 
their  bodily  life  to  its  lowest  limits,  and  inteusilied 


136       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

their  consciousness  of  their  souls.  Sin  was  a  dominant 
fact  in  this  introspection,  the  burning  centre  of  their 
self-consciousness.  They  deepened  and  darkened  their 
sense  of  guilt  and  agonized  over  their  sin.  Religious 
literature  was  largely  devotional  and  meditative,  and 
such  books  as  Bunyan's  Pilgrim's  Progress,  Jeremy 
Taylor's  Eoly  Living  and  his  Eoly  Dying,  Baxter's 
Saints'  Everlasting  Rest,  and  Doddridge's  Rise  and 
Progress  of  Religion  in  the  Soul  were  the  popular  re- 
ligious books  of  their  day.  The  preaching  partook  of 
the  same  character  and  turned  the  gaze  of  the  hearers 
inward  upon  their  own  spiritual  condition. 

Our  life  has  become  predominantly  objective.  We 
live  in  a  unified  world  which  has  become  a  vast  amphi- 
theatre where  the  drama  of  humanity  is  being  played 
before  our  eyes.  We  all  hold  reserved  seats  in  this 
theatre  and  see  all  that  is  going  on.  Book  and  daily 
newspaper  and  illustrated  magazine,  telephone  and  tele- 
graph and  wireless  communication,  have  brought  the 
ends  of  the  earth  together,  and  everything  of  any  im- 
portance and  countless  things  of  no  importance  hap- 
pening anywhere  are  thrown  on  the  screen  before  us  in 
a  moving-picture  show  that  is  giving  a  continuous  per- 
formance. As  a  result  we  are  absorbed  in  our  senses.^ 
The  heavens  are  full  of  shooting  stars  and,  while  look- 
ing at  one  wonder,  we  are  distracted  by  another.  We 
have  little  time  and  disposition  to  look  within  because 
of  the  great,  chaotic,  noisy,  booming  world  without. 
We  live  in  a  riot  of  the  senses  and  are  too  excited  to 
think.  Our  literature  is  emotional  and  sensational, 
and  our  newspapers  scream  at  us  in  red-letter  head- 
lines from  two  to  four  inches  deep.  Even  the  pulpit 
in  many  instances  turns  itself  into  a  platform  on  which 
some  kind  of  a  performance  is  going  on  to  draw  and 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  137 

hold  an  audience,  and  travelling  evangelists  take  to 
extemporized  tents  and  tabernacles  in  which  the  wildest 
sensationalism  is  often  the  chief  attraction. 

Meditation  is  thus  becoming  a  lost  art.  People  are 
always  craving  a  crowd  and  itching  for  a  new  thrill. 
They  seek  excitement  in  society  and  shun  solitude.  *^ 
They  have  meagre  inner  resources  and  little  comfort 
and  contentment  in  themselves.  We  are  losing  ac- 
quaintance with  ourselves  and  may  become  such  stran- 
gers to  our  own  souls  that  we  would  hardly  recognize 
them  on  the  street.  In  such  a  world,  to  which  we  are 
not  yet  adjusted,  we  are  losing  much  that  is  valuable 
and  fine  out  of  our  inner  life,  and  our  sense  of  sin  is 
being  submerged  and  swept  away  in  this  flood  of  ex- 
ternal excitement. 

There  is  much  that  is  good  in  this  objective  life,  but 
we  are  swinging  to  a  dangerous  extreme  and  need  to 
return  to  and  restore  the  inner  life.  The  inner  must 
balance  the  outer,  or  life  will  lack  depth  and  propor- 
tion and  poise,  and  be  one-sided  and  shallow,  feverish 
and  fretful.  There  must  be  inner  roots  of  conviction 
deepened  by  self-examination  and  meditation  in  order 
that  there  may  be  a  strong  and  fruitful  outer  life.  The 
Delphic  oracle  was  wise  enough  to  enjoin  upon  the 
seeker  after  the  secret  of  life,  "  Know  thyself,"  and  we^ 
are  in  special  need  of  the  same  admonition  and  prac- 
tice in  our  day.  Such  self-knowledge  will  bring  us  face 
to  face  with  our  sin  and  convince  and  convict  us  of 
our  guilt  and  drive  tlie  sense  of  sin  dei'p  into  our  souls. 

6.  Increased  Emphasis  on  the  Positive  Side  of  Life. 
— Increased  emphasis  is  now  being  placed  on  the  posi- 
tive side  of  life.  There  are  two  ways  of  controlling 
ourselves  and  moving  men  to  action:  the  negative  way 
of  checks  and  fears,  and  the  positive  way  of  active  im- 


138      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

pulses  and  hopes.  The  one  intensifies  inhibitory  ideas 
and  motives,  and  the  other  stresses  positive  motives 
and  ends.  The  one  cries  out,  "  Woe  to  the  wicked ;  it 
shall  be  ill  with  him  " ;  and  the  other  proclaims,  "  Say 
ye  to  the  righteous,  that  it  shall  be  well  with  him."  The 
one  holds  back,  and  the  other  draws  forward.  The  one 
emphasizes  retribution,  and  the  other  holds  up  reward. 
The  one  points  to  hell,  and  the  other  to  heaven.  Both 
of  these  means  and  motives  are  proper  and  should  be 
used  in  their  due  proportion. 

Now  in  former  days  the  chief  stress  was  put  on  re- 
straint and  fear,  but  in  our  day  it  has  shifted  to  action 
and  hope.  Men  are  now  more  aroused  and  governed  by 
hope  than  by  fear,  by  reward  than  by  retribution. 
They  want  to  be  energized  to  do  something  positive  and 
not  simply  checked  and  held  back.  They  are  lured  and 
inspired  by  great  visions  that  can  be  turned  into  vic- 
tories and  have  small  concern  simply  in  avoiding  dan- 
ger and  disaster,  even  the  traps  of  Satan  and  the  pit 
of  hell. 

The  preaching  of  to-day  reflects  this  changed  attitude. 
Its  dominant  emphasis  is  put  upon  positive  doctrine 
and  deeds  rather  than  upon  negative  restraints.  It 
preaches  the  great  things  of  the  gospel,  the  personality 
and  character  of  God,  the  Saviourhood  of  Christ,  the 
greatness  of  the  kingdom  of  God,  the  worth  of  life,  the 
blessedness  of  service  and  sacrifice,  and  the  crown  of 
life  that  fadeth  not  away.  Of  course  the  guilt  and  ruin 
and  bitter  fruits  of  sin  are  also  preached,  as  they  ought 
to  be,  but  the  purity  and  peace  and  power  of  righteous- 
ness are  preached  more.  Salvation  is  made  to  over- 
shadow sin,  and  good  to  crowd  out  evil.  Men  can  be 
interested  more  in  doing  right  than  in  not  doing  wrong. 
They  are  urged  to  gird  themselves  up  as  strong  men  to 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  139 

run  a  race,  not  to  escape  enemies,  but  to  win  a  prize. 
This  is  good  psychology',  for  the  way  to  get  evil  out  of 
the  soul  is  to  crowd  good  in,  but  this  change  has  had 
the  effect  in  some  degree  of  drawing  our  consciousness  / 
off  from  sin  and  concentrating  it  on  righteousness. 

7.  A  Broader  and  Finer  Ethical  Sense. — The  picture 
on  which  we  have  been  looking  is  growing  less  dark  and 
increasingly  taking  on  brighter  colours.  In  the  midst 
of  these  ominous  conditions  and  changes  we  are  de- 
veloping a  broader  and  finer  ethical  sense.  While  some 
things  that  in  former  days  were  regarded  as  deep  sins, 
such  as  dancing,  cards,  and  the  theatre,  are  losing  their 
darker  aspects  and  are  fading  out  into  general  toler- 
ance if  not  acceptance  among  Christian  people,  other 
things  that  former  generations  did  not  consider  wrong 
are  now  pressing  on  our  conscience  as  grave  social  sins. 
Slavery,  once  thought  right  and  even  defended  as  a 
divine  institution,  is  now  branded  as  "  the  sum  of  all 
villainies."  Gambling,  once  a  gentleman's  game,  is 
now  banished  from  most  respectable  circles.  Intem- 
perance, once  indulged  in  without  social  or  religious 
disapproval,  is  now  a  grave  sin  and  scandal. 

Significant  also  is  the  growth  of  conscience  in  the 
political,  business  and  industrial  worlds.  Politics  is 
undoubtedly  subject  to  higher  ethical  standards  than 
in  former  days  and  is  growing  cleaner  and  more  hon- 
ourable. Public  opinion  jijtpears  to  be  growing  purer 
and  more  [)Owerful.  Business  and  industrial  legisla- 
tion is  making  constant  progress  along  ethical  lines. 
Railroad  rebates,  given  or  extorted  only  a  generation 
ago  without  any  one  questioning  them,  are  now  pro- 
hibited by  law  as  social  crimes.  Monopolies  and  trusts 
are  also  now  rrgni'ded  as  nnjiist  and  are  forbidden  by 
law.     A  great  body  of  legislation  is  growing  ui)  regu- 


140       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

lating  child  labour,  the  labour  of  women,  the  hours  of 
labour,  protection  from  dangerous  machinery  and  un- 
sanitary conditions,  compensation  for  injuries  and 
related  matters,  all  of  which  mark  and  measure  prog- 
ress in  social  conscience.  While  individual  conscience 
at  some  points  is  growing  less  tender,  social  conscience 
is  growing  more  sensitive  and  imperative. 

The  sense  of  truth  is  growing  finer  and  more  exact- 
ing. We  feel  more  the  obligation  to  reach  reality  at 
any  cost  and  not  be  governed  by  tradition  or  public 
opinion  or  partisan  or  personal  interest.  The  church 
is  being  held  to  stricter  account  for  the  character  and 
conduct  of  its  members,  and  there  is  an  increasing  in- 
sistence that  Christian  profession  be  matched  with 
practice.  The  scientific  spirit  of  truth-seeking  is  per- 
vading the  intellectual  realm  and  the  Christian  spirit 
of  brotherhood  is  being  diffused  through  social  life  from 
top  to  bottom. 

Broader  and  more  hopeful  still,  there  is  developing 
a  world  consciousness  and  a  world  conscience.  The 
world,  once  broken  into  dissevered  and  constantly  war- 
ring fragments,  has  grown  into  unity  and  is  forming 
a  court  of  world  morality  in  which  its  ethical  sense 
is  steadily  moving  up  the  scale  of  worth  and  obligation. 
Humanity  is  beginning  to  realize  its  brotherhood  and 
to  speak  on  international  questions  with  a  majestic 
voice.  And  this  is  true  in  the  face  of  the  present  world 
war,  which  is  giving  a  mighty  impulse  to  the  growing 
world  consciousness  and  conscience,  and  which  may  be 
one  of  the  last  dreadful  convulsions  of  the  whole  in- 
sanity of  war.  At  any  rate,  there  is  a  growing  con- 
science against  war  which  was  scarcely  felt  five  cen- 
turies or  even  one  century  ago,  and  the  world  appears 
to  be  moving  towards  the  long  dreamed-of  "  parliament 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  SIN  141 

of  man  and  federation  of  the  world."  And  thus  con- 
science is  developing  a  broader  and  finer  sense,  and 
this  immensely  hopeful  fact  is  to  be  placed  to  the  credit 
side  of  this  account. 

8.  The  Terrible  Fact  of  Sin  Remains.— The  final  fact 
on  this  subject  is  that  notwithstanding  the  sense  of  sin 
has  declined  at  some  points  and  in  some  ways,  the  ter- 
rible reality  of  sin  remains.  Some  of  these  conditions  ^ 
that  have  dulled  the  sense  of  sin  are  reactions  against 
the  extremes  of  other  days,  and  the  j^endulum  is  bound 
to  swing  back  and  rest  nearer  to  the  normal  middle 
position;  others  are  less  serious  than  they  seem,  and 
still  others  are  a  positive  gain.  But  in  and  through 
them  all  the  fact  of  sin  has  not  been  removed  or  shaken. 
The  soul  is  aware  of  its  own  transgression  and  guilt 
and  all  the  multitudinous  seas  cannot  wash  out  this 
stain.  No  self-deception  can  permanently  blind  the 
soul  to  its  guilt,  no  false  theory  can  explain  it  away. 
Conscience  cries  out  against  itself,  and  its  voice  can- 
not be  hushed.  Sin  is  still  a  frightful  fact  in  the 
world.  It  writes  its  ruin  in  vice  and  crime,  in  indi- 
vidual murder  and  in  the  colossal  convulsions  of  war, 
in  all  human  selfishness  and  cruelty,  trials  and  tears, 
sufferings  and  sorrows,  broken  hearts  and  lost  souls. 
It  is  the  awful  tragedy  of  the  universe.  Only  fools 
mock  at  it.  Angels  weep  over  it,  and  the  Son  of  God 
gave  himself  as  a  sacrifice  to  atone  for  its  guilt.  Its 
retribution  cannot  be  escaped.  Hell  cannot  be  dug^ 
out  of  the  universe  or  its  fires  be  put  out.  God's  jus- 
tice never  slinnhcrs  or  sleei)s.  He  cannot  overlook  sin 
and  be  a  respectable  God.  The  integrity  of  the  universe 
will  not  tolerate  it.  God  will  not  let  it  mock  him,  and 
it  is  still  an  eternal  law  of  life  that  the  wages  of  sin  is 
death. 


142       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

We  should  not,  then,  let  our  sense  of  sin  be  lulled  into 
indifference  and  dulness  and  drowsiness,  but  we  should 
arouse  it  and  keep  it  alive  and  alert,  and  the  prophets 
and  preachers  of  the  age  should  cry  aloud  and  spare 
not. 


T 


CHAPTER  V 
THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION 

HE  shadows  of  sin  have  swathed  the  world  in 
gloom  and  doom,  but  there  is  light  that  can 
break  through  this  cloud  and  at  length  roll  it 
away  from  the  individual  soul  and,  in  an  increasing 
degree,  from  the  world.  Sin  is  terrible  bondage  and 
bitterness,  but  its  power  can  be  broken.  Conversion 
is  the  human  side  of  regeneration,  as  regeneration  is 
the  divine  side  of  conversion.  Theology  studies  regen- 
eration, which  is  prior  to  and  conditions  conversion, 
and  psychology  studies  conversion  only  as  a  human 
experience. 

I.    The  NiTTURE  %f  C#nversi#x 

Conversion  is  a  turning  from  one  state  to  another,  as 
the  word  means.  The  soul  has  a  general  capacity  for 
such  change.  However  it  may  be  predisposed  by  native 
disposition  and  determined  by  choice  and  crystallized 
in  character  and  hardened  in  conduct  by  habit,  its 
state  is  never  fixed  and  final,  but  it  may  be,  slowly  or 
suddenly,  changed  and  modified,  revolutionized  and 
reconstructed,  melted  down  and  recast  into  a  new  dis- 
position and  life.  In  this  plasticity  of  the  soul  lie  the 
ho|)e  and  power  of  conversion. 

We  commonly  think  of  conversion  as  a  purely  re- 
ligious change,  but  it  may  also  take  place  at  other 
levels  of  thought  and  feeling  or  in  other  fields  of  life. 


144       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

Every  one  has  changing  moods  from  grave  to  gay,  from 
deep  depression  and  pessimism  to  exultant  hope  and 
jubilant  optimism,  or  one's  life  may  encounter  a  crisis 
and  ever  after  flow  in  a  different  channel,  and  such 
changes  are  of  the  nature  of  conversion. 

I.  Conversion  in  the  Non-Religious  Field. — Litera- 
ture affords  notable  instances  of  non-religious  conver- 
sions that  throw  some  light  on  our  subject. 

(a)  An  interesting  case  occurred  in  the  life  of  Car- 
lyle.  He  was  a  man  of  violent  moods  and  fits  and 
experienced  many  changes  of  emotional  level.  When  he 
had  finished  the  second  volume  of  The  French  Revolu- 
tion, he  lent  the  manuscript  to  John  Stuart  Mill,  who 
in  turn  lent  it  to  another  friend.  This  friend,  after 
reading  the  absorbing  story  far  into  the  night,  left  the 
manuscript  on  his  study  table,  and  the  housemaid  the 
next  morning,  hunting  around  for  something  to  start 
the  fire  with,  found  the  loose  heap  of  paper,  and  so  it 
went  up  in  the  flames,  like  the  French  Revolution  itself. 
When  the  fatal  news  was  told  to  Carlyle  he  was  stag- 
gered by  the  heavy  blow  and  sat  disconsolate  in  his 
despair  for  many  days.  One  morning,  while  sitting  by 
his  open  window  brooding  over  his  misfortune,  he  hap- 
pened to  see,  across  acres  of  London  roofs,  a  man  work- 
ing on  a  brick  wall.  Patiently  the  workman  laid  brick 
after  brick,  affectionately  tapping  each  one  with  his 
trowel  and  all  the  while  singing  blithe  as  a  lark. 
"  And  in  my  spleen,"  says  Carlyle,  "  I  said  within  my- 
self, ^  Poor  fool,  how  canst  thou  be  so  merry  under 
such  a  bile-spotted  atmosphere  as  this,  and  everything 
rushing  into  the  region  of  the  inane.'  And  then  I  be- 
thought me  and  said,  ^  Poor  fool,  thou,  rather,  that  sit- 
test  here  by  the  window  whining  and  complaining ! ' '' 
And  he  arose  and  washed  his  face  and  "  felt  his  head 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION      145 

anointed  "  and  went  to  work,  and  presently  The  French 
Revolution  was  finished  again. 

The  incident  is  a  fine  instance  of  the  contagion  of 
unconscious  influence,  for  that  humble  bricklayer  un- 
wittingly infected  Carlyle  with  his  happy  spirit  of  toil 
and  lifted  him  out  of  his  despondency  and  helped  to 
write  that  literary  masterpiece.  But  the  profound 
change  that  Carlyle  experienced  illustrates  the  nature 
of  conversion.  The  expulsive  power  of  a  new  interest 
excited  by  a  contagious  personality  entered  his  life  and 
made  him  a  new  man. 

(&)  A  similar  but  somewhat  deeper  change  occurred 
in  the  life  of  John  Stuart  Mill  himself.  Mill  had  been 
brought  up  by  an  agnostic  father  protected  against  re- 
ligious influences.  When  he  was  twentv  years  old  he 
fell  into  deep  despondency  of  which  he  gives  an  ac- 
count in  the  wonderfully  interesting  chapter  in  his 
Autobiography  entitled  "A  Crisis  in  My  Mental  His- 
tory.'' a  J  ^.gg  jjj  »  jjg  says,  "  a  dull  state  of  nerves, 
such  as  everybody  is  occasionally  liable  to;  unsus- 
ceptible to  enjoyment  or  pleasurable  excitement ;  one  of 
those  moods  when  what  is  pleasure  at  other  times  be- 
comes insipid  or  indifferent;  the  state,  I  should  think, 
in  which  converts  to  Methodism  are  when  smitten  by 
their  first  '  conviction  of  sin.'  In  this  frame  of  mind  it 
occurred  to  me  to  put  a  question  directly  to  myself: 
*  Suppose  that  all  your  objects  in  life  were  realized; 
that  all  changes  in  institutions  and  opinions  which  you 
are  looking  forward  to  could  be  completely  effected  at 
this  very  instant:  would  this  be  a  great  joy  and  happi- 
ness to  you?'  And  an  irrepressible  self  consciousness 
distinctly  answered,  'No!'  At  this  my  heart  sank 
williin  nie :  the  whole  fonndalion  on  which  mv  life  was 
constructed  fell  down.     All  my  happiness  was  to  have 


146      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

been  found  in  the  continual  pursuit  of  this  end.  The 
end  had  ceased  to  charm,  and  how  could  there  ever 
again  be  any  interest  in  the  means?  I  seemed  to  have 
nothing  left  to  live  for.  ...  I  frequently  asked  myself, 
if  I  could,  or  if  I  was  bound  to  go  on  living,  when  life 
must  be  passed  in  this  manner.  I  generally  answered 
to  myself,  that  I  did  not  think  I  could  possibly  bear  it 
beyond  a  year.  When,  however,  not  more  than  half  of 
that  duration  of  time  had  elapsed,  a  small  ray  of  light 
broke  in  upon  my  gloom.  I  was  reading,  accidentally, 
Marmontel's  Memoires,  and  came  to  the  passage  which 
relates  his  father's  death,  the  distressed  position  of  the 
family,  and  the  sudden  inspiration  by  which  he,  then 
a  mere  boy,  felt  and  made  them  feel  that  he  could  be 
everything  to  them — would  supply  the  place  of  all  they 
had  lost.  A  vivid  conception  of  the  scene  and  its  feel- 
ings came  over  me,  and  I  was  moved  to  tears.  From 
this  moment  my  burden  grew  lighter.  The  oppression 
of  the  thought  that  all  feeling  was  dead  within  me  was 
gone.  I  was  no  longer  hopeless :  I  was  not  a  stock  or  a 
stone.  I  had  still,  it  seemed,  some  of  the  material  out 
of  which  all  worth  of  character,  and  all  capacity  for 
happiness,  are  made."  A  little  later  he  read  Words- 
worth for  the  first  time  and  ^'  I  found,"  he  savs,  "  that 
he  too  had  had  similar  experience  to  mine;  that  he 
also  had  felt  that  the  first  freshness  of  youthful  enjoy- 
ment of  life  was  not  lasting;  but  that  he  had  sought 
for  compensation,  and  found  it,  in  the  way  in  which  he 
was  now  teaching  me  to  find  it.  The  result  was  that  I 
gradually,  but  completely,  emerged  from  my  habitual 
depression,  and  was  never  again  subject  to  it."  ^ 
This  experience  also  illustrates  conversion.    The  en- 

*  Autoliography,  Chapter  V. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION     147 

trance  into  Mill's  depressed  son!  of  a  new  interest 
caught  from  other  personalities  profoundly  changed 
the  level  and  course  of  his  life. 

(c)  Reference  may  be  made  in  this  connection  to 
those  abnormal  changes  known  as  alternating  and 
multiple  personalities.  Many  instances  are  on  record 
of  persons  that  were  subject  to  a  sudden  change  of  con- 
sciousness in  which  they  were  virtually  different  per- 
sons from  their  former  state.  Professor  James  in  his 
Psi/chologij  relates  a  number  of  these  cases  and  gives  an 
account  of  a  notable  instance  that  came  under  his  own 
study.  On  January  17,  1887,  Rev.  Ansel  Bourne,  of 
Greene,  R.  I.,  drew  some  money  from  a  bank  in  Provi- 
dence and  boarded  a  street  »car,  and  was  then  entirely 
lost  to  his  friends  for  two  months.  Two  weeks  after 
his  disappearance  a  man  calling  himself  A.  B.  Brown 
opened  a  small  stationery  and  fruit  store  in  Norris- 
town.  Pa.,  which  he  conducted  six  weeks,  when  he  woke 
up  one  morning  in  a  fright  and  called  the  people  of  the 
house  to  tell  him  where  he  was.  He  gave  his  name  as 
Ansel  Bourne  and  knew  nothing  of  his  store-keeping, 
his  memory  going  back  to  his  drawing  money  from  the 
Providence  bank.  He  had  lived  as  an  entirelv  different 
person  during  these  two  months,  having  no  knowledge 
of  his  former  life  and  exciting  among  the  people  with 
whom  he  lived  and  dealt  no  suspicion  that  there  was 
anything  abn«jrmal  about  him. 

In  some  cases  three  or  four  of  these  multiple  i)ersons 
are  lying  dormant  in  the  same  consciousness,  and  they 
alternate  from  one  to  another.  Professor  James  sup- 
poses tliat  there  are  different  and  independent  sets  of 
association  pat  lis  in  the  brain  and  that  a  cliange  of 
personality  is  caused  by  switching  from  one  of  these  to 
pnother,  a  theory   that  leaves  unexplained   the  great 


148      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

difiSculty  of  how  the  brain,  having  developed  one  set 
of  association  paths,  could  suddenly  flash  into  another. 
The  whole  subject  of  these  abnormal  states  and  changes 
is  full  of  puzzles  and  of  mystery.^  But  they  illustrate 
the  possibility  of  profound  changes  that  go  down  to 
the  roots  of  personality,  and  throw  a  vivid  light  on  the 
saying  of  the  prophet  Samuel  to  Saul,  "  Thou  shalt  be 
turned  into  another  man"  (I  Samuel  10:6). 

2.  Conversions  in  the  Religious  Field. — Religious 
conversions  are  so  common  that  only  several  striking 
cases  need  be  cited. 

(a)  Tolstoy  underwent  a  profound  change  from  the 
life  of  a  man  of  wealth  and  the  world  to  that  of  a 
deeply  if  somewhat  morbidly  pious  man.  His  story  as 
told  in  My  Confession  is  one  of  the  marvels  of  religious 
literature.  At  fifty  years  of  age  he  found  himself  in 
the  midst  of  a  happy  family  with  his  wife  and  chil- 
dren surrounded  with  all  the  comfort  and  luxury  of 
wealth  and  at  the  height  of  literary  fame.  Yet  the 
feeling  crept  into  his  heart  that  all  was  vanity  and 
vexation  of  spirit.  ^^  I  was  like  a  man,"  he  says,  "  lost 
in  a  forest,  and  who,  terrified  by  the  thought  that  he  is 
lost,  rushes  about  trying  to  find  a  way  out,  and,  though 
he  knows  each  step  leads  him  still  farther  astray,  can- 
not help  rushing  about.  It  was  this  that  was  terrible. 
And  to  get  free  from  this  horror,  I  was  ready  to  kill  my- 
self." For  months  the  great  soul  groped  around  in  this 
darkness  until  there  broke  through  it  a  single  gleam  of 
light  in  the  thought  that  God  exists.  "  '  He  is,'  I  said  to 
myself.  I  had  only  to  admit  that  for  an  instant  to  feel 
that  life  re-arose  in  me,  to  feel  the  possibility  of  existing 
and  the  joy  of  it.  Then,  again,  from  the  conviction  of 
the  existence  of  God,  I  passed  to  the  consideration  of 

*  See  James's  Psychology,  Vol.  I,  pp.  373-401. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION     149 

our  relation  toward  Him,  and  again  I  had  before  me 
the  triune  God,  our  Creator,  who  sent  His  Son,  the 
Redeemer.  Again,  this  God,  apart  from  me  and  from 
the  world,  melted  before  my  ejes  as  ice  melts;  again 
there  was  nothing  to  do  but  to  kill  myself,  while,  worst 
of  all,  I  felt  also  that  I  should  never  do  it."  But  when 
he  would  relapse  from  his  faith  the  thought  ''  There  is 
no  God  "  became  intolerable  to  him,  until  he  rested  in 
his  final  faith.  ^'  God  is  life,"  he  said.  ^'  Live  to  seek 
God,  and  life  will  not  be  without  God.  And  stronger 
than  ever  rose  up  life  within  and  around  me,  and  the 
light  that  then  shone  never  left  me  again.  .  .  .  When 
and  how  this  change  in  me  took  place  I  could  not  say. 
As  gradually,  imperceptibly  as  life  decayed  in  me,  till 
I  reached  the  impossibility  of  living,  till  life  stood  still, 
and  I  longed  to  kill  myself,  so  gradually  and  imper- 
ceptibly I  felt  the  glow  and  strength  of  life  return 
to  me."  ^ 

Thus  a  life  that  was  thoroughly  saturated  and  crys- 
tallized in  worldliness  underwent  a  profound  recon- 
struction; yet  the  process  took  place  gradually;  and 
back  underneath  it  all  was  the  early  orthodox  training 
of  Tolstoy  that  furnished  the  subconscious  soil  out  of 
which  this  change  grew. 

(b)  One  of  the  most  remarkable  books  in  the  litera- 
ture of  conversion  is  Harold  Begbie's  Twice-Born  Men. 
It  contains  accounts  of  nine  conversions  which  occurred 
in  the  slums  of  London  bv  which  men  of  the  lowest  and 
vilest  degradation  were  thoroughly  converted  into  the 
cleanness  and  libertv  of  the  Christian  life.  In  his 
Preface  the  author  says:  "Here  in  this  little  book, 
which  tells  the  story  of  a  few  humble  and  quite  com- 
monplace human  beings,  is  such  astonishing  psychology 

»  1/y  Confession,  pp.  18  19,  56-58. 


150       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

as  must  surely  bewilder  the  metaphysician,  the  social 
reformer,  the  criminologist,  the  theologian,  and  the 
philosopher;  and  it  is  unearthed,  and  brought  to  the 
surface  of  observation,  this  incredible  psychology,  from 
a  single  quarter  of  the  city,  from  a  few  shabby  streets 
huddled  together  on  the  western  edge  of  the  metropolis, 
forming  a  locality  of  their  own,  calling  themselves  by  a 
particular  name,  and  living  almost  as  entirely  aloof 
from  the  rest  of  London  as  Cranford  from  Drumble.'^ 
Every  one  of  the  cases  recorded  in  this  book  is  such  a 
profound  change  in  a  human  personality  that  it  shows 
that  no  human  being  can  be  so  degraded  and  soaked 
in  sin  that  he  cannot  be  converted  and  restored  to  new- 
*  ness  of  life. 

A  single  one  of  these  cases  is  here  condensed  from 
several  paragraphs  of  the  story.  A  Salvation  Army 
adjutant  "  had  seen  many  of  the  lowest  and  most  de- 
praved people  in  London,  but  until  she  saw  Old  Born 
Drunk  never  had  she  realized  the  hideousness  and  re- 
pulsive abomination  to  which  vice  can  degrade  the 
human  body.  This  man,  the  child  of  frightfully 
drunken  parents,  had  been  born  in  drink,  and  was 
almost  certainly,  as  his  name  declared,  actually  born 
drunk.  He  had  been  taught  to  drink  and  had  acquired 
an  insatiable  appetite  for  drink  in  earliest  childhood. 
He  was  now,  at  the  age  of  five-  or  six-and-forty,  habitu- 
ally drunk.  The  vileness  of  his  clothing  and  the  un- 
healthy appearance  of  his  flesh  did  not  strike  the 
adjutant  till  afterwards.  Her  whole  attention  was  held 
in  a  kind  of  horror  by  the  aspect  of  the  man's  eyes. 
They  were  terrible  with  soullessness.  She  racks  her 
brain  in  vain  to  find  words  to  describe  them.  She 
returns  again  and  again  to  the  word  stupefied.  That  is 
the  word  that  least  fails  to  misrepresent  what  no  Ian- 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION     151 

guage  can  describe.  Stupefied!  Not  weakness,  not 
feebleness;  not  cunning,  not  depravity;  but  stupor. 
They  were  the  eyes  of  a  man  neither  living  nor  dead ; 
they  were  the  eyes  of  nothing  that  had  ever  lived  or 
could  ever  die — the  eyes  of  eternal  stillborn  stupor. 
These  eyes  were  hardly  discernible,  for  the  flaccid  lids 
hung  over  the  pupils,  and  the  bagged  flesh  of  the  swol- 
len white  face  pressed  upon  them  from  below.  There 
was  just  a  disk  of  glazed  luminosity  showing  in  each 
dwindled  socket — a  disk  of  veiling  existence,  perishing 
life,  of  stupor.  For  the  rest  he  was  a  true  Miserable, 
lower  than  anything  to  be  found  among  barbarous  na- 
tions, debased  almost  out  of  humanity.  He  was  short, 
thick-set,  misshapen,  vile;  clothed  in  rags  which  suf- 
focated those  who  blundered  near  to  him — a  creature 
whom  ragged  children  mocked  with  scorn  as  he  passed 
down  the  street." 

In  a  Salvation  Army  meeting  he  came  forward  and 
cried  out,  ''  Oh,  I  want  to  be  like  Joe !  " — one  of  the 
men  who  had  testified.  Afterwards  he  gave  this  account 
of  what  happened  at  that  meeting:  "While  I  was 
listening  to  Joe,  thinking  of  what  he's  been,  and  seeing 
what  he's  become,  all  of  a  sudden  it  took  me  that  Fd 
find  God  and  get  Him  to  make  me  like  Joe.  It  took  me 
like  that.  I  just  felt,  all  of  a  sudden,  drtcnnincd  to 
find  God.  Dctrrmincd! ''  he  repeated,  with  energy  as- 
tonishing in  this  broken  and  hopeless  creature  of 
alcoholism.  "  And  while  I  was  kneeling,  while  I  was 
praying,  I  felt  the  spirit  of  God  come  upon  me.  I  said, 
*  Oh,  God,  make  me  like  Joe!'  and  while  I  prayed,  I 
felt  the  Spirit  come  upon  me.  I  hinic  I  could  become 
like  Joe.    I  know  I'm  saved." 

A  life  tested  by  fierce  temptations  cunningly  devised 
by  his  old  companions  proved  the  reality  and  perma- 


152      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

Dence  of  this  conversion.  "  This  once  ruined  creature 
was  now  happy  and  whole.  His  conversion  appeared  so 
extraordinary  to  the  people  in  the  neighbourhood, 
extraordinary  in  its  lastingness  as  well  as  in  its  effects, 
that  he  became  a  power  for  righteousness  without 
exerting  any  missionary  zeal.  People  looked  at  him  in 
the  streets.  Vicious  and  degraded  men  at  street  cor- 
ners, or  at  doors  of  public-houses,  regarded  the  old 
man,  born  again  and  living  in  respectability  and  hap- 
piness, with  something  of  the  same  stirring  in  their 
brains  as  once  had  made  him  exclaim,  '  I  want  to  be 
like  Joe.'    He  advertised  salvation."  ^ 

In  this  conversion  we  see  illustrated  the  degradation 
of  sin,  the  hope  kindled  by  a  new  ideal  and  the  power 
of  determination  in  the  human  will. 

(c)  The  most  remarkable  conversion  in  the  history  of 
Christianity  is  that  of  Paul.  He  was  a  Jewish  lawyer  < 
and  Roman  citizen,  educated  in  Greek  and  Hebrew 
learning,  and  a  man  of  powerful  intellect,  fiery  emo- 
tions, and  indomitable  will.  His  whole  nature  was 
fused  in  the  burning  focus  of  his  consciousness  and 
flowed  forth  in  a  molten  stream.  He  was  a  Hebrew  of 
the  Hebrews,  an  intense  zealot  in  the  religion  of  Moses. 
At  the  appearance  of  Christianity  he  violently  opposed 
it  and  went  about  trying  to  suppress  it  by  the  slaugh- 
ter of  its  followers.  In  his  view  Jesus  was  a  false 
prophet  and  the  greatest  heretic  and  most  dangerous 
man  that  ever  lived.  If  ever  a  man  was  set  in  his  way, 
unified  and  compacted  and  fused  in  his  whole  nature 
and  life,  that  man  was  Saul  of  Tarsus.  Yet  suddenly, 
while  on  the  way  to  Damascus  to  persecute  Christians, 
under  a  noonday  sky  a  flash  of  light  blinded  him  and 
he  heard  the  voice  of  Jesus  and  was  instantly  con- 

^  Twice-Born  Men,  Chapter  IV. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION      153 

verted  from  the  bloody  persecutor  to  the  apostle  of 
faith  who  turned  the  world  upside  down. 

There  may  have  been  a  deep  psychological  prepara- 
tion for  this  sudden  change.  Saul  knew  something  of 
the  life  and  teachings  of  Jesus,  and  he  was  present  at 
the  stoning  of  Stephen  and  the  wonderful  bearing  of 
that  martyr  may  have  left  some  impression  in  his  sub- 
conscious mind.  We  cannot  know  and  perhaps  he  did 
not  know  what  secret  preparation  had  been  going  on 
in  his  soul.  The  long  ride  across  Syrian  sands  afforded 
leisure  and  solitude  for  meditation,  which  may  have 
ripened  these  slumbering  seeds  in  his  subconsciousness 
and  prepared  them  for  their  sudden  sprouting.  The 
Spirit  works  in  ways  that  are  hidden  from  us. 

The  extraordinary  and  startling  feature  in  Saul's 
conversion  was  the  midday  vision  above  the  brightness 
of  the  sun  in  which  the  risen  Lord  Jesus  was  mani- 
fested to  him.  The  supernatural  element  in  the  back- 
ground of  every  conversion  flashed  into  the  foreground 
in  his  experience  and  changed  his  whole  attitude  in  a 
moment.  ^'  I  was  not  disobedient  unto  the  heavenly 
vision,"  was  Paul's  own  explanation  of  the  reversal  of 
his  will.  From  that  hour  through  the  silent  years  of  his 
meditation  and  preparation  and  the  thirty  years  of 
his  missionary  activity  he  poured  out  his  soul  in  a 
stream  of  service  and  sacrifice  that  has  never  been 
paralleled  in  the  history  of  rhristianity.  More  than 
any  other  personality,  except  Christ  himself,  he  has 
shaped  the  doctrine  and  life  of  (Miristianily  and  dug 
the  channel  in  which  the  Christian  centuries  have  *^ 
flowed. 

These  three  instances  of  conversion  illustrate  widely 
varying  types,  but  they  all  have  the  essential  elements 
of  thia  change.    Tolstoy,  the  man  of  the  world,  *'  Old 


154      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

Born  Drunk,"  at  the  bottom  of  human  degradation, 
and  Paul,  the  powerful  thinker  and  fiery  zealot,  were 
all  turned  from  sin  unto  God  by  the  entrance  of  a 
J  new  ijdea  and  iiieal  which  they  followed  in  faith  and 
obedience. 

11.    The  Means  of  Conversion 

Let  us  now  look  more  in  detail  at  the  means  of  or 
steps  in  conversion. 

I.  Conversion  Primarily  an  Act  of  Mind. — Conver- 
sion, being  a  turning  of  the  soul  from  sin  to  God,  is 
primarily  an  act  of  the  mind  and  will.  This  fact  is 
clearly  expressed  in  the  Greek  word  metanoia.^  This 
word  is  translated  ''  repentance  "  in  both  the  Author- 
ized and  the  Revised  Versions  of  the  New  Testament, 
but  this  translation  is  misleading.  The  word  ''  re- 
pentance "  emphasizes  a  change  of  feeling  in  penitence 
or  pain  for  sin.  But  metanoia  means  a  change  of  mind. 
In  his  book  entitled  The  Great  Cleaning  of  Metanoia, 
Treadv/ell  Walden  brings  out  this  meaning.  ^^  Nous/'  he 
says,  "  is  the  precise  equivalent  of  ^  mind.'  Meta  is  a 
preposition  which,  when  compounded  with  nous,  means 
after.  Metanoia  is  the  after-mind:  perception,  knowl- 
edge, thought,  feeling,  disposition,  will,  afterivards. 
The  mind  has  entered  upon  a  new  stage,  upon  some- 
thing beyond."  He  quotes  a  correspondent  as  follows : 
"  The  root  of  meta  is  the  English  '  mid,'  and  meta  is  at 
bottom  the  English  ^  amid.'  From  this  idea  (one  of 
situation)  it  progresses  to  another  idea  of  direction; 
and  in  this  use  it  has  the  sense  of  '  going  right  against,' 
in  the  sense  of  ^  striking  fair  and  square,'  or  '  right  in 
the  middle.'    Thus  it  gets  the  meaning  of  ^  oppositeness 

1  [itrdvoLa. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION      155 

of  direction,'  and  its  force  in  ^  metanoia '  is  to  show 
that  the  action  of  the  mind  is  now  precisely  in  the  oppo- 
site direction  to  what  was  before  the  case."  De 
Quincej  had  grasped  this  meaning  and  is  quoted  as  say- 
ing: "I  understand  by  metanoia  a  revolution  of 
thought — a  great  intellectual  change — in  accepting  a 
new  centre  for  all  moral  truth  from  Christ;  which 
centre  it  was  that  subsequently  caused  all  the  offence 
of  Christianity  to  the  Roman  people."  Matthew  Ar- 
nold is  also  quoted  as  saying:  "  Of  ^  metanoia,'  as  Jesus 
used  the  word,  the  lamenting  one's  sins  was  a  small 
part;  the  main  part  was  something  far  more  active 
and  fruitful,  the  setting  up  an  immense  new  inward 
movement  for  obtaining  the  rule  of  life.  And  ^  meta- 
noia,' acordingly,  is  a  change  of  the  inner  man." 

Rev.  Mr.  Walden  savs  on  the  meaning  of  the  word : 
*^  That  spiritual  perception  of  the  right  and  the  true 
which  grows  within  and  around  a  mind  that  is  being 
gradually  educated  up  to  the  divine  standard;  the  na- 
ture wide  open  in  front,  not  only  looking  behind,  and 
receiving  the  whole  counsel  of  God,  not  a  part  of  it; 
every  faculty  enlightened,  every  feeling  inspired;  the 
entire  man  engaged;  conviction,  not  excitement;  ear- 
nestness, not  impulse;  habitude,  not  paroxysm;  the 
heart  tempered  by  the  understanding,  the  understand- 
ing warmed  by  the  heart;  this,  the  consummate  and  yet 
attainable  condition.  .  .  .  This  is  not  conveyed  in 
the '  Repent  ye! '  of  our  gospels,  nor  does  it  come  within 
the  range  of  much  of  the  teaching  which  falls  on  the 
world's  ear.  The  all-encompassing  grandeur  of  an 
announcement  which  takes  in  the  whole  life,  and  calls 
upon  man  to  enlarge  his  consciousness  with  tin*  eternal 
and  the  sjuritual,  to  live  on  the  scale  of  another  life, 
to  let  his  character  grow  under  this  great  knowledge,  to 


V 


156      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

let  his  conduct  fall  into  the  lines  of  the  revealed  divine 
will— all  this  is  lost."  ^ 

When  John  the  Baptist  began  his  ministry,  saying, 
^'  Repent  ye :  for  the  kingdom  of  heaven  is  at  hand  " ; 
when  Jesus  began  preaching,  "  Repent  ye,  and  believe 
the  gospel " ;  and  when  Peter  climaxed  and  closed  his 
great  sermon  on  the  day  of  Pentecost  with  the  call, 
^'  Repent,  and  be  baptized  every  one  of  you  in  the  name 
of  Jesus  Christ,"  each  of  these  preachers  called  out 
to  his  hearers,  '^  Change  your  minds."  Change  your 
mind !  this  is  the  cry  that  rings  through  the  New  Testa- 
ment from  beginning  to  end ;  and  it  is  to  this  day  the 
initial  word  and  call  of  the  gospel.  Conversion  is  an 
act  and  movement  of  the  whole  mind  and  soul  out  of 
sin  into  righteousness. 

This  change  is  not  a  sheer  or  blind  act  of  the  will, 
but  a  rational  process.  The  general  means  by  which 
conversion  is  brought  about  is  the  creation  of  a  new 
interest,  a  changed  view  and  vision  of  life,  the  intro- 
duction into  the  mind  and  heart  of  a  more  powerful 
motive,  or,  in  Dr.  Chalmers'  famous  phrase,  "  the  ex- 
pulsive power  of  a  new  affection." 

"  A  great  and  priceless  thing,"  says  Mark  Twain  in 
one  of  the  fine  serious  passages  scattered  through  his 
books,  "  is  a  new  interest !  How  it  takes  possession  of 
a  man!  how  it  clings  to  him,  how  it  rides  him!  I 
strode  onward  from  Schwarenbach  hostelry  a  changed 
man,  a  reorganized  personality.  I  walked  in  a  new 
world,  I  saw  with  new  eyes.  I  had  been  looking  aloft 
at  the  giant  snow-peaks  only  as  things  to  be  wor- 
shipped for  their  grandeur  and  magnitude,  and  their 
unspeakable  grace  of  form;  I  looked  up  at  them  now, 

*  The  Great  Meaning  of  Metanoia,  by  Treadwell  Walden,  pp. 
23-24. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION     157 

as  also  things  to  be  conquered  and  climbed.  My  sense  of 
their  grandeur  and  their  noble  beauty  was  neither  lost 
nor  impaired ;  I  had  gained  a  new  interest  in  the  moun- 
tains without  losing  the  old  ones.  I  followed  the  steep 
lines  up,  inch  by  inch,  and  noted  the  possibility  or 
impossibility  of  following  them  with  my  feet.  When  I 
saw  a  shining  helmet  of  ice  projecting  from  the  clouds, 
I  tried  to  imagine  I  saw  files  of  black  specks  toiling  up 
it  roped  together  with  a  gossamer  thread."  ^ 

Such  is  the  effect  of  a  new  interest  upon  us.  It 
wakes  up  our  dormant  powers,  renews  our  fatigued 
faculties,  enlivens  our  satiated  senses,  dispels  any 
gloom  and  discouragement  and  pessimism  that  have 
been  hanging  around  our  spirits,  reorganizes  our  whole 
personality  and  lifts  life  to  a  new  level.  Many  a  life 
that  has  been  worn  out  and  lost  all  hope  has  blazed 
up  into  an  intense  fire  of  energy  and  enthusiasm  when 
touched  with  the  torch  of  a  new  interest.  Then  some 
mountain  that  has  long  stood  in  sight  and  become  a 
familiar  and  commonplace  thing  suddenly  takes  on  new 
meaning  and  power,  and  the  soul  views  it  with  search- 
ing gaze  from  base  to  summit  and  is  absorbed  in  its 
wonders  and  resolves  to  con(]uer  its  heights. 

Conversion  is  such  a  change.  The  soul  can  be  lured 
from  sin  only  as  it  is  drawn  by  some  more  powerful 
attraction.  Sin  can  be  driven  out  of  the  heart  only 
as  it  is  crowded  out  by  some  stronger  good.  A  heart 
that  is  simi)ly  swe[)t  empty  of  evil  will  presently  be 
visited  and  occupied  b}'  seven  devils  more  vicious  than 
the  one  exjjcllcd,  and  its  last  state  will  be  worse  than 
the  first.  We  can  persuade  men  to  leave  the  old  life 
only  as  we  offer  them  something  l)etter.  This  was  strik- 
ingly illustrated  in  the  three  conversions  described  in 

» A  Tramp  Abroad,  Vol.  II,  p.  73. 


158      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

the  preceding  section.  "  God  is,"  was  the  thought  that 
let  the  first  light  into  Tolstoy's  groping  soul.  ''  I  want 
to  be  like  Joe,"  was  the  pitiful  cry  of  "  Old  Born 
Drunk."  "  I  was  not  disobedient  unto  the  heavenly 
vision,"  was  the  testimony  of  Paul. 

Conversion,  then,  being  an  act  of  the  mind,  does  not 
begin  with  the  emotions,  fears,  or  hopes.  The  way  to 
win  converts  is  not  first  to  stir  up  their  feelings  into  a 
frenzy  of  excitement,  but  to  present  to  them  some  great 
and  worthy  new  interest  that  will  lead  them  to  change 
their  minds  and  turn  from  sin  unto  righteousness  and 
God.  Christianity  is  ever  a  rational  religion,  and  its 
great  instrument  is  preaching  the  truth.  It  appeals  to 
the  minds  and  motives  of  men.  It  reasons,  as  did  Paul 
before  Felix  when  '^  he  reasoned  of  righteousness,  tem- 
perance, and  judgment  to  come."  And  so  preaching  is 
not  ranting :  it  is  reasoning ;  and  conversion  is  brought 
about  by  reasoning  along  three  lines. 

2.  Three  Steps  in  Conversion. — These  three  lines  of 
reasoning  and  steps  in  conversion  are  repentance,  faith, 
and  obedience. 

(a)  Conversion  is,  first,  a  change  of  mind  on  the  sub- 
ject of  sin.  Every  normal  person  has  some  sense  of 
sin,  however  sodden  his  soul  and  dull  his  conscience. 
Whether  savage  or  civilized,  illiterate  or  learned,  vul- 
gar or  refined,  agnostic  or  Christian,  sinner  or  saint, 
every  one's  own  heart  condemns  him;  and  if  we  say 
we  have  no  sin  John  says  we  do  lie  and  the  truth  is  not 
in  us.  But  this  sense  of  sin  varies  in  degree  and  depth 
from  indifference  and  almost  total  insensibility  to  a 
keen  consciousness  of  guilt  and  agonizing  remorse. 
Various  conditions  and  influences  lull  this  sense  of  sin 
into  sleep  or  deaden  it  into  insensibility,  and  others 
wake  it  into  life  and  power.    A  sermon,  a  gospel  song,  a 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION      159 

revival  meeting,  the  timely  sympathetic  word  or  warn- 
ing of  a  parent,  teacher  or  friend,  some  truth  or  cir- 
cumstance leads  the  soul  to  consider  its  state  and 
quickens  its  conscience  into  a  lively  sense  of  its  guilt, 
and  then  the  mind  sees  sin  in  its  true  light  as  human 
guilt  and  folly  and  disobedience  against  God ;  and  it 
considers  the  consequences  of  sin  in  increasing  guilt 
and  evil  habit  and  finally  in  degradation  and  bondage 
and  bitterness.  Seeing  its  sin  in  its  true  light  the  soul 
then  experiences  penitence  or  the  pain  of  guilt,  and 
its  sin,  that  possibly  had  long  been  forgotten  and 
thought  dead,  grows  keenly  alive  or  flames  up  in  burn- 
ing power.  The  mind's  perception  of  the  true  nature  of 
sin  lets  loose  the  emotions  of  penitence,  and  these  AjOW 
upon  the  will  and  turn  the  soul  from  sin.  The  man 
thus  changes  his  whole  mind  towards  sin  in  thought, 
feeling,  and  will. 

(6)  Conversion  is  first  an  act  of  repentance  in  turn- 
ing from  sin,  and  second  it  is  an  act  of  faith  in  turningv^ 
towards  God  and  Christ.  Faith  is  a  kind  of  knowledge : 
knowledge  that  rests  on  relation  to  a  person  as  con- 
trasted with  knowledge  that  rests  on  sense  percep- 
tion or  on  logical  demonstration.  It  is  not  a  less  trust- 
worthy kind  of  persuasion  than  sense  x)erception  or 
logical  proof  and  may  be  just  as  solid  and  sure. 
Vastly  the  greater  part  of  our  knowledge  rests  on 
trust  in  others  and  bv  faith  we  live  everv  dav  and 
hour.  It  is  by  an  act  of  faith  that  we  read  and  doi)end 
on  b()()i<s  and  newspapers  and  on  the  whole  world  of 
comiiniuication  with  others.  Ccinvcrsation  is  a  con- 
tinual exercise  oi  faith,  and  without  such  trust  in 
one  anollier  we  would  all  quickly  perish.  Our  knowl- 
edge of  the  world  and  of  nature  largely  consists  of 
faith.    .We  may  not  have  seen  London  or  Pekiu,  and 


160      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

yet  we  are  not  only  sure  of  their  existence  but  may 
even  practically  know  as  much  about  them  as  we  do 
of  the  city  or  town  in  which  we  live ;  and  such  knowl- 
edge is  pure  faith.  And  our  knowledge  of  science 
outside  of  our  personal  observation  is  of  the  same 
nature.  Our  belief  that  the  sun  is  ninety-three  mil- 
lions of  miles  distant  from  the  earth,  in  so  far  as  we  J 
derive  this  knowledge  from  others,  rests  on  faith; 
and  so  is  it  with  the  w^hole  range  of  our  scientific 
knowledge  except  that  part  or  field  of  science  in  which 
we  have  first-hand  knowledge.  Not  only  so,  but  sci- 
entific men  themselves  are  dependent  on  faith  for  most 
of  their  knowledge,  for  they  must  trust  experts  out- 
side of  their  own  fields.  And  so  faith  is  the  common 
ground  under  all  our  feet  on  which  we  walk,  it  is  the 
very  air  of  life  which  we  consciously  or  unconsciously 
breathe.  Faith  is  not,  then,  an  illegitimate  or  uncer- 
tain and  untrustworthy  or  even  weaker  kind  of  knowl- 
edge, but  may  be  as  certain  and  solid  ground  as  we 
ever  find  under  our  feet. 

The  same  principle  of  trust  which  runs  through  our 
human  life  and  by  which  we  necessarily  live  runs  on 
up  into  our  relations  with  God.  It  is  just  as  reason- 
able and  natural  and  necessary  that  we  should  trust 
in  him  as  that  we  should  trust  in  one  another;  and 
faith  in  him  is  fraught  with  a  greater  burden  of  bless- 
ing than  is  our  faith  in  one  another  by  as  much  as  he 
is  greater  than  man.  Religious  faith  does  not  differ 
in  principle  from  the  faith  of  our  common  secular  life. 
It  is  not  an  invention  of  the  priest  or  church.  It  is 
not  a  secret  or  a  mystery  peculiar  to  religion.  Faith 
in  religion  is  just  what  it  is  in  science,  or  in  industry  / 
and  trade,  or  in  society  and  friendship.  Christian 
faith  has  sometimes  been  analyzed  and  explained  until 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION     161 

its  very  simplicity  has  become  a  puzzle  and  a  mys- 
tery, and,  instead  of  setting  it  afloat  in  the  air,  we 
need  to  keep  it  down  upon  the  ground  of  our  common 
life. 

Religious  faith  is  belief  in  God  and  Christian  faith 
is  belief  in  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God  and  our  Saviour. 
The  grounds  of  such  faith  are  all  the  historic  facts 
and  Scripture  teachings  and  personal  experiences  that 
lead  to  and  demand  such  belief;  and  these  grounds 
justify  Christian  faith  as  certainly  as  nature  and 
society  justify  our  faith  in  science  and  in  one  another. 
In  conversion  faith  lavs  hold  of  God  as  a  God  of 
righteousness  and  justice  and  also  of  mercy  and  for- 
giveness ;  and  it  lays  hold  of  Christ  as  the  Son  of  God 
who  is  mighty  to  save  and  will  hear  our  cry  and 
cleanse  us  from  all  unrighteousness.  Faith  casts  its 
burden  of  guilt  and  bondage  on  Christ  and  receives 
his  atoning  grace  by  which  its  guilt  is  propitiated  in 
the  sight  of  God's  justice  and  its  bondage  is  unloosed^ 
and  the  penitent  soul  is  set  free  in  the  glorious  liberty 
of  the  sons  of  God. 

Faith  as  belief  releases  the  feeling  of  trust.  This  is 
the  characteristic  emotional  element  in  faith.  All  be- 
lief involves  some  feeling  of  trust,  such  as  confidence  in 
our  own  faculties  and  in  the  constitution  and  regu- 
larity of  the  course  of  nature.  But  in  faith  tlio  factor 
of  feeling  rises  to  a  fuller  volume  and  may  reach  a 
flood  tide.  We  trust  in  a  person  with  a  feeling  of 
confidence  and  afi'ection  such  as  we  do  not  exj^erionce 
in  other  forms  of  knowledge.  Faith  in  God  is  filled 
with  this  feeling,  which  may  be  the  main  constituent 
so  that  it  may  submerge  the  intellectual  element  of 
belief,  though  of  course  thought  is  always  present  in 
consciousness,  however  deei)ly  it  may  l>e  immersed  in 


162      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

the  feelings.  Faith  in  Christ  is  still  fuller  and  livelier 
in  its  feeling  element,  because  Christ  comes  nearer  to 
us  in  his  humanity./  God  as  the  infinite  and  eternal 
Spirit  seems  far  otf  and  shadowy,  but  in  Christ  "  the 
Word  was  made  flesh  and  dwelt  among  us  (and  we  be- 
held his  glory,  glory  as  of  the  only  begotten  from  the 
Father),  full  of  grace  and  truth."  Christ  is  God  come 
down  to  us  so  that  we  can  see  him.  He  is  the  sunrise 
and  sunburst  of  God,  whose  immediate  splendour  fills 
our  eyes.  His  humanity  brings  him  close  to  our  side 
and  lets  us  into  his  experience,  and  thus  we  can  feel 
a  trust  in  him  and  a  personal  affection  for  him  such 
as  we  cannot  so  vividly  exercise  towards  the  infinite 
and  eternal  God.  One  purpose  of  the  incarnation  is 
to  bridge  the  wide  barrier  of  space  that  seems  to  sepa- 
rate us  from  God  and  bring  God  to  us  and  us  to  God 
so  that  we  can  have  vital  and  fruitful  personal  faith 
in  and  fellowship  with  him. 

Faith  brings  us  into  saving  relations  with-  Christ.  ^ 
Faith  in  any  person  commits  and  binds  us  to  him  so 
that  we  are  made  one  with  him  and  all  that  he  is  be- 
comes available  for  us.  When  we  commit  ourselves  in 
faith  to  a  physician  all  his  knowledge  and  skill  is  put 
at  our  service  and  is  more  efficient  for  our  healing  than 
if  we  had  it  in  our  own  minds.  The  soldier  trusting 
his  general  shares  in  and  is  guided  by  all  the  superior 
knowledge  and  training  of  the  officer.  A  nation  is  as 
wise  as  its  statesmen  and  as  strong  as  its  army.  The 
scholar  has  at  his  service  all  the  knowledge  of  the 
teacher;  and,  most  beautiful  of  all  illustrations,  the 
child  by  its  faith  in  its  father  and  mother  shares  in 
and  is  guided  and  trained  and  strengthened  by  all  that 
they  are  and  have.  Faith  thus  so  identifies  us  with 
the  person  on  whom  our  faith  rests  that  we  are  one 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION      163 

with  him  in  all  that  he  is.  A  fundamental  law  of  life 
is :  '  Have  faith  in  your  mother  and  you  will  be  saved 
in  childhood ;  Have  faith  in  your  teacher  and  you  will 
be  taught;  Have  faith  in  your  physician  and  you  will 
be  healed.'  In  the  most  literal  sense  we  walk  by  faith, 
we  live  by  faith,  and  by  faith  are  we  saved. 

In  the  same  way  faith  commits  and  binds  us  to 
Christ  so  that  we  are  united  with  him  in  a  union  that 
makes  all  his  saving  power  available  for  our  salva- 
tion. His  atonement  covers  the  guilt  of  our  sin  as 
effectually  as  though  we  had  rendered  this  atonement 
ourselves.  His  grace  is  communicated  to  us  through 
his  Word  and  Spirit  so  that  we  are  fashioned  into  his 
likeness,  and  thus  more  and  more  we  "  become  par- 
takers of  the  divine  nature."  "  Being  therefore  jus- 
tified by  faith,  we  have  peace  with  God  through  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ;  through  whom  also  we  have  had 
access  by  faith  into  this  grace  wherein  we  stand;  and 
we  rejoice  in  hope  of  the  glory  of  God"  (Romans  5: 
1-2).  All  this  is  in  accordance  with  the  psychology  of 
faith  in  all  spheres.  It  is  not  by  magic  or  mystery 
that  faith  saves  us,  but  by  its  natural  working.  Christ 
saves  us,  as  the  physician  heals  us,  through  our  faith. 
Faith  puts  us  in  saving  relations  with  him  and  be- 
comes the  vital  artery  through  which  he  can  pour  his 
grace  into  us.  Faith  is  the  hand  by  which  wo  grasp 
the  hand  of  Christ,  and  then  he  lifts  us  out  of  our  sin 
into  newness  of  life. 

(c)  The  third  stej)  in  conversion  is  obedience  by 
which  faith  com})U'tes  itself  in  fact.  OinMlicuce  is  pre- 
doniiiianily  an  act  of  the  will,  and  the  will  has  alreadyy 
been  active  in  repentance  and  faith,  each  of  which 
involves  thought,  feeling,  and  will.  C)bcdience  to  truth 
and  duty  and  to  God  and  Christ  in  all  the  duties  and 


164      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

graces  and  service  of  the  Christian  life  is  the  neces- 
sary fulfilment  of  faith,  as  the  fruit  is  the  necessary 
outgrowth  and  completion  of  the  root.  Obedience  fixes 
and  deepens  faith  in  the  mind,  intensifies  its  feeling, 
and  thus  causes  faith  to  grow  into  clearer  vision  and 
greater  vigour  and  final  victory. 

The  relation  of  faith  and  obedience  is  clearly  stated 
by  James :  "  ^Yhat  doth  it  profit,  my  brothers,  if  a 
man  say  he  hath  faith,  but  have  not  works?  can  that 
faith  save  him  ?  If  a  brother  or  sister  be  naked  and  in 
lack  of  daily  food,  and  one  of  you  say  unto  them,  Go 
in  peace,  be  ye  warmed  and  filled;  and  yet  ye  give 
them  not  the  things  needful  to  the  body;  what  doth  it 
profit?  Even  so  faith,  if  it  have  not  works,  is  dead  in 
itself.  Yea,  a  man  will  say.  Thou  hast  faith,  and  I 
have  works :  show  me  thy  faith  apart  from  thy  works, 
and  I  by  my  works  will  show  thee  my  faith  "  (James  2 : 
14-18).  There  is  thus  no  contradiction  or  antagonism 
between  faith  and  obedience,  but  they  are  two  aspects 
of  the  same  thing:  one  is  subjective  and  the  other  ob- 
jective ;  one  is  the  root  and  the  other  is  the  fruit.  Both 
are  equally  necessary,  and  all  the  three  steps  of  re- 
pentance, faith,  and  obedience  are  necessary  to  com- 
plete the  one  act  by  which  the  sinner  changes  his 
whole  mind  from  sin  unto  salvation  and  life. 

Conversion  thus  runs  the  three-cvcle  round  of 
thought,  feeling,  and  will  in  its  complex  act  of  re- 
pentance, faith,  and  obedience.  The  soul  in  conversion 
perceives  the  truth  as  to  sin  and  turns  from  it;  faith 
believes  in  God  and  in  Christ  and  commits  the  soul  to 
him;  then  it  feels  and  may  be  flooded  with  a  sense  of 
its  guilt  and  of  trust  in  Christ;  and  this  stream  of 
feeling  pours  upon  the  will  and  moves  it  to  action  in 
obedience.     This  cycle  of  psychology  is  fundamental 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION     165 

in  conversion  and  in  all  our  Christian  living  and 
preaching,  and  a  clear  understanding  of  it  is  of  the 
first  importance  in  our  Christian  experience  and  work. 

The  way  to  move  the  will  to  obedience  is  to  stir  up  the 
appropriate  feelings,  and  the  way  to  stir  the  feelings  is 
to  create  and  intensify  the  proper  thought,  and  the 
way  to  create  the  thought  is  to  present  some  efficient 
object  that  operates  by  the  expulsive  power  of  a  new 
interest.  In  general,  this  new  interest  in  religion  is 
the  stronger  attraction  of  a  better  life  in  fellowship 
and  service  with  Jesus  Christ.  The  righteousness  and 
the  reward,  the  duty  and  beauty  and  blessedness  of 
likeness  with  Christ  and  service  in  his  kingdom,  are  to 
be  held  up  and  enriched  and  intensified  by  associations 
into  a  powerful  magnet  to  draw  men  out  of  their  sin  to 
the  Saviour.  Conversion  is  thus  at  bottom  the  impact 
and  contagion  of  one  personality  on  another.  This  per- 
sonal contact  and  contagion  may  at  first  be  that  of 
a  parent,  teacher,  pastor  or  friend,  but  at  last  it  is 
the  impact  and  power  of  the  person  of  Jesus  Christ  on'' 
the  soul,  the  entrance  of  his  Spirit  into  the  conscience 
and  heart  so  as  to  capture  the  soul  and  bind  it  to  him 
in  faith  and  fellowship  and  service;  and  this  is  salva- 
tion. 

3.  Conversion  and  the  Subconsciousness. — Thus  far 
we  have  been  considering  conversion  as  taking  place  in 
the  field  of  consciousness.  But  we  have  sc^n  that  the 
soul  has  a  subconscious  life  or  region  in  which  are 
stored  away  all  its  past  experiences,  thoughts,  feel- 
ings and  deeds,  and  these  constitute  a  reservoir  which 
is  tapi)od  by  every  idea  that  comes  into  the  mind  and 
which  then  sends  forth  a  stream  of  associations  to 
enrich  and  intensifv  it. 

This  subconsciousness  j>lays  an  important  part  in 


166      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

conversion.  The  truth  that  is  pressed  upon  the  mind 
in  conversion,  the  ideas  of  sin  and  faith  and  obedience, 
penetrate  this  reservoir  and  draw  forth  the  accumu- 
lated associations  of  the  past  to  reenforce  the  truth  and 
give  it  converting  power.  These  revived  associations 
are  usually  connected  with  the  early  home  life  and 
teaching  and  experiences  of  the  hearer.  The  old  home, 
a  father's  pious  example,  the  prayers  that  were  learned 
at  a  mother's  knees,  the  lessons  of  the  Sunday  school, 
some  memory  of  a  revival  sermon  or  song,  some  remark- 
able happening,  many  are  the  memories  of  the  past 
that  may  spring  up  out  of  the  subconsciousness  as  a 
flood  and  pour  their  energizing  power  on  the  truth 
that  is  being,  preached,  c  Host  conversions  that  take 
place  in  mature  life  are  caused  by  this  uprush  out  of 
the  past  to  reenforce  and  decide  the  duty  of  the  mo- 
ment. Revival  preaching  always  plays  upon  these 
subconscious  strings  in  the  heart  and  wakes  into  life 
their  old  music.  Once  get  a  man  back  into  the  dear 
scenes  and  precious  memories  of  his  childhood  home 
and  life  and  these  old,  forgotten,  far-off  things  come 
back  upon  him  with  strange  power  and  lay  their  spell 
upon  him,  he  grows  tender  and  susceptible,  the  foun- 
tain of  his  tears  is  opened  and  he  is  carried  off  on  their 
flood  into  action.  On  entering  a  mission  hall  in  one 
of  our  great  cities  where  nightly  gathers  a  motley 
crowd  of  men,  most  of  them  down-and-outs,  the  first 
thing  that  one  sees  staring  him  in  the  face  is  the  ques- 
tion, painted  in  large  letters  on  the  wall,  "  How  long 
is  it  since  vou  wrote  to  vour  mother?"  There  is 
psychology  in  that  question.  It  appeals  to  the  past 
and  taps  the  subconscious  life  of  every  one  of  those 
wandering  men,  and  in  many  cases  must  start  a  flood 
of  memories  and  penitent  thoughts  and  good  resolu- 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION      167 

tions  that  moves  many  a  tramp  and  drunkard  to  turn 
around  in  conversion. 

In  preaching  and  teaching  we  must  learn  to  touch 
these  deep-hidden  strings  of  the  heart  and  wake  their 
tender  music.  In  addressing  a  hearer  we  are  appeal- 
ing to  more  than  his  conscious  mind :  we  are  slipping 
suggestions  beneath  his  consciousness  into  his  sub- 
consciousness and  waking  up  the  whole  man  and  mak- 
ing deeper  and  more  powerful  appeals  than  the  many 
himself  knows.  This  appeal  to  the  hidden  life  should 
not  be  made  too  often  or  too  obtrusively,  or  it  will 
wear  out  or  even  stir  up  opposition.  It  may  be  done  in 
such  a  way  that  men  will  resent  it  and  arm  themselves 
against  it.  It  should  be  done  rather  by  way  of  indirec- 
tion and  allusion  than  by  a  frontal  bold  attack.  Sug- 
gestion by  the  very  meaning  of  the  word  goes  under 
the  conscious  thoughts  into  the  subconscious;  instead 
of  knocking  at  the  front  door  and  publicly  announcing 
its  intentions,  it  stealthily  steals  in  through  the  back 
door  and  catches  a  man  before  he  knows  it.  It  throws 
a  man  off  his  guard  and  takes  him  unawares.  Many  a 
man  has  gone  to  a  religious  meeting  in  a  state  of  indif- 
ference or  of  hostility,  even  as  a  scoffer,  but  the  truth 
slipped  under  his  unconcern  and  antagonism  and 
tapped  deeper  depths  and  took  him  captive,  he  knew  not 
how,  and  he  may  have  been  as  much  surprised  as  any- 
body at  the  result.  Such  indirection  calls  for  delicate 
tact  and  skill,  quick  insight  and  sympathy  and  the 
ability  instantly  to  adapt  the  means  used  to  the  situa- 
tion or  case  in  hand,  and  then  it  has  wonderful  sub- 
tlety and  power  in  penetrating  the  great  deeps  of 
human  souls  and  moving  them  to  action. 

4,    Conversion  and  Revivals. — A  familiar  fact   that 
i9  conlirnied  and  elucidated  by  psychology  is  that  re- 


168      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

vival  is  a  powerful  means  of  conversion.  This  grows 
out  of  the  fact  that  the  human  soul  is  intensely  social 
and  absorbent,  a  veritable  sponge  that  sucks  up  all 
around  it.  The  psychology  of  the  crowd  has  been 
closely  studied  by  the  psychologists  with  fruitful  re- 
sults.^ Every  one  has  experienced  the  contagion  of  a 
crowd  and  knows  how  common  thoughts  and  feelings 
seize  and  sway  it,  suppressing  or  overriding  all  indi- 
vidual differences  and  mastering  and  moving  it  as  a 
storm  sways  a  forest.  The  principle  of  a  mob  is  that 
one  overpowering  idea  inhibits  all  antagonistic  ideas  , 
and  unbinds  the  passions  and  sweeps  all  before  it./ 
The  contagion  of  a  crowd  w^orks  largely  through  the 
subconscious  nature,  tapping  the  deep  primal  instincts 
and  passions  and  letting  them  loose  in  an  overwhelm- 
ing flood  of  power.  There  may  thus  be  a  violent  ex- 
plosion of  human  nature,  suddenly  unloosing  long  pent- 
up  passions  and  as  suddenly  subsiding. 

There  is  no  fixed  dead  level  anywhere  in  the  world; 
all  things  are  subject  to  fluctuations.  The  atmosphere 
has  its  changes  of  temperature,  the  sea  its  tides,  the 
earth  its  seasons,  and  the  sun  its  periodicity  in  Its 
spots.  Life  is  especially  subject  to  this  law.  Agricul- 
tural life  is  more  active  in  summer  and  quiescent  in 
winter.  Business  is  usually  livelier  in  the  fall  and 
winter  and  spring  and  stagnant  in  the  hot  season.  In- 
tellectual life  at  times  rises  into  a  glow  of  interest  and 
then  cools  into  indifference  and  sinks  into  dulness. 
Political  life  is  especially  subject  to  violent  fluctua- 
tions, rising  into  intense  excitement  in  a  campaign  and 
then  subsiding  into  inactivity. 
Religion  is  subject  to  the  same  law.  It  cannot  main- 
*  ^odoX  Psychology,  by  Edward  A.  Ros3,  is  an  illuminating 
book  on.  tlie  subject. 


ig 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION     169 

tain  itself  at  a  level,  especially  at  a  high  pitch  of 
intensity,  but  rises  and  falls.  It  is  intensely  infectious 
and  contagious.  Religious  interest  in  a  church  or  com- 
munity is  kindled  by  some  spark  and  begins  to  spread 
and  blaze  and  may  grow  into  a  conflagration.  Chris- 
tianity started  off  under  the  powerful  impulse  of  the 
greatest  revival  in  its  history  on  the  day  of  Pentecost. 
A  fire  was  kindled  on  that  day  that  has  lighted  all  suc- 
ceeding ages.  Revival  has  been  a  marked  feature  and 
force  in  Christianity  ever  since.  The  Crusades  were 
powerful  outbreaks  of  crowd  contagion,  and  the 
Reformation  was  a  tremendous  revival.  Great  historic 
revivals  attended  the  preaching  of  the  Wesleys,  White- 
field,  Jonathan  Edwards,  Finney,  and  Moody,  and  re- 
vivalism under  evangelists  is  one  of  the  most  prominent 
facts  in  Christianity  to-day. 

A  revival  follows  all  the  laws  of  social  psychology. 
It  spreads  largely  through  the  power  of  suggestion  in 
reaching  the  subconscious  nature.  Revival  preaching 
never  deals  in  new  theology  but  in  old  theology,  the 
primary  facts  of  sin  and  salvation;  and  it  especially 
penetrates  the  subconscious  life  of  the  hearers  by 
touching  on  their  childhood  teaching  and  memories. 
These  associations  are  greatly  quickened  and  strength- 
ened by  the  contagion  of  the  crowd,  and  once  they  get 
started  they  spread  like  fire  and  begin  to  burn  and 
blaze  and  may  melt  the  most  obdurate  hearts.  It  is 
always  easier  to  do  what  others  are  doing,  especially 
when  others  of  our  kind  are  doing  what  chimes  in  with 
our  own  deepest  nature  and  needs.  Conversion  is  thus 
catching  and  may  run  through  a  whole  church  and 
community,  or  city  and  country. 

A  revival  renews  religious  interest  and  life  in  all 
Christians,  and  it  is  a  harvest  season  when  many  souls 


170       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

are  brought  to  decision  and  action.  Many  of  these  con- 
verts have  been  reared  in  Christian  homes  and  are 
believers  in  Christ,  but  they  need  the  impulse  of  com- 
mon interest  to  push  them  into  public  confession;  and 
others  have  wandered  far  from  early  teaching  into 
worldliness  and  sin,  and  the  revival  brings  them  back 
to  their  early  faith  and  leads  them  to  turn  it  into  fact. 
Revivals  are  often  attended  with  instances  of  con- 
version out  of  utter  unbelief  or  worldliness  or  deep 
wickedness  into  faith  and  confession  as  wonderful  as 
anything  recorded  in  Scripture,  except  the  conversion 
of  Paul  which  was  extraordinary  and  unique,  or  in 
Twice-Born  Men.  The  grace  of  God  has  lost  none  of  / 
its  saving  virtue  and  is  ever  able  to  make  souls  willing' 
in  the  day  of  his  power. 

Good  and  blessed  as  revivals  are,  yet  they  have  their 
dangers,  as  many  pastors  and  churches  know  to  their 
sorrow.  Chief  among  these  dangers  are  the  excesses 
that  may  attend  them.  Great  historic  revivals  have 
sometimes  been  disfigured  by  abnormal  and  dangerous 
features.  The  great  revival  under  Edwards  led  to  phys- 
ical manifestations  against  which  he  protested,  and  of 
the  Kentucky  revival  of  1799-1800  we  read :  "  The  heart 
swelled,  the  nerves  gave  way,  the  hands  and  feet  grew 
cold,  and,  motionless  and  speechless,  they  fell  head- 
long to  the  ground.  In  a  moment  crowds  gathered 
about  them  to  pray  and  shout.  Some  lay  still  as  death. 
Some  passed  through  frightful  twitchings  of  face  and 
limb.  At  Cabin  Creek  so  many  fell  that,  lest  the  multi- 
tude should  tread  on  them,  they  were  carried  to  the 
meeting-house  and  laid  in  rows  on  the  floor.  At  Cane 
Ridge  the  number  was  three  thousand.  The  excite- 
ment surpassed  anything  that  had  been  known.  Men 
who  came  to  scoff  remained  to  preach.    All  day  and 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION      171 

all  night  the  crowd  swarmed  to  and  fro  from  preacher 
to  preacher,  singing,  shouting,  laughing,  now  rushing 
off  to  listen  to  some  new  exhorter  who  had  climbed 
upon  a  stump,  now  gathering  around  some  unfortu- 
nate who,  in  their  peculiar  language,  was  ^  spiritually 
slain.'  Soon  men  and  women  fell  in  such  numbers  that 
it  became  impossible  to  move  without  trampling  them, 
and  they  were  hurried  to  the  meeting-house.  At  no 
time  was  the  floor  less  than  half  covered.  Some  lav 
quiet,  unable  to  move  or  speak.  Some  talked,  but  could 
not  move.  Some  beat  the  floor  with  their  heels.  Some, 
shrieking  in  agony,  bounded  about,  it  is  said,  like  a 
live  fish  out  of  water.  Many  lay  down  and  rolled  over 
and  over  for  hours  at  a  time.  Others  rushed  wildlv 
over  the  stumps  and  benches,  and  then  plunged,  shout- 
ing Lost !  Lost !  into  the  forest."  ^ 

Such  excesses  unleash  the  bonds  of  self-control  and 
easily  run  into  relaxed  morals  and  even  gross  im- 
morality. Mind  and  matter  lie  close  together  and 
sometimes  it  is  only  a  slip  from  spirituality  into  sen- 
suality. The  flesh  steadily  pulls  against  the  spirit  and 
is  watching  its  chance  to  get  the  better  of  it,  and  appe- 
tite and  sense  must  be  held  in  with  a  tight  rein,  or 
they  may  bound  away  with  us.  As  it  is  only  a  step 
from  the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous,  so  in  the  midst  of 
such  revival  excitement  and  excess  there  is  danger  of  a 
fall  from  the  spirit  into  the  flesh. 

Undue  emotionalism  is  one  of  the  dangers  of  a  revival 
even  when  it  does  not  unhinge  the  i-eason  and  rise  into 
hysteria.  When  it  floods  the  soul  so  as  to  subniorgc  the 
judgment  it  may  rush  the  will  into  unconsidcit^d  action 
from  which  there  will  be  a  reaction.  This  is  a  coniiuon 
result  of  revivals.    They  often  sweep  through  a  church 

»  Social  Psychology,  by  Edward  A.  Koas,  pp.  50-52. 


172      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

and  community  in  a  flood  tide  that  carries  many  into 
the  church,  but  they  quickly  subside  and  leave  their 
wreckage  in  the  form  of  deeper  indifference  and  lapsed 
members  strewn  along  their  banks  for  years.  It  is 
literally  true  that  after  some  revivals  the  last  state  is 
worse  than  the  first.  For  this  reason  some  pastors 
are  slow  to  enter  upon  revival  movements  and  some 
churches  discourage  them  altogether.  But  the  abuse 
of  revivals  can  be  avoided  without  abandoning  their 
use;  that  they  are  a  legitimate  and  powerful  means  of 
religious  conversion  and  life  is  proved  by  all  the  history 
of  the  Christian  church,  and  they  are  not  an  abnormal 
and  irrational  means  of  promoting  quickened  interest, 
as  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  the  same  principle  is  freely 
used  and  is  effective  in  other  fields. 

The  pastor  that  knows  how  to  use  this  agency  sanely 
and  wisely  has  a  Scriptural  and  elficient  means  of  pro- 
moting spiritual  life  in  his  church  and  winning  con- 
verts. The  best  kind  of  a  revival,  as  a  general  rule, 
is  one  that  the  pastor  conducts  in  his  own  church. 
In  many  churches  the  pastor  holds  special  evangelistic 
meetings  at  regular  intervals  several  times  a  year  and 
secures  the  assistance  of  a  brother  pastor  of  an  evan- 
gelistic type  to  do  the  preaching  during  a  week  or 
more,  while  he  works  among  his  people.  Such  sea- 
sons, when  properly  prepared  for  and  efficiently  con- 
ducted, result  in  a  healthful  revival,  free  from  the 
danger  of  excesses,  and  yielding  a  harvest  of  quickened 
religious  life  and  converted  souls. 

The  chief  danger  in  revivals  results  from  the  failure 
to  observe  and  use  the  three-cycle  movement  of  the 
soul  from  thought  to  feeling  and  from  feeling  to  will 
in  their  due  order  and  proportion ;  but  often  an  imme- 
diate effort  is  made  and  every  means  is  used  to  stir  up 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION     173 

the  feelings  into  excitement  which  may  reach  the  pitch 
of  frenzy.  Sermon  and  song  and  prayer  and  all  the 
accessories  of  the  meeting  are  made  to  converge  in  the 
focus  of  the  feelings  so  as  to  fuse  them  into  white 
heat.  Sometimes  means  are  used  that  pass  into  ex- 
travagance and  border  on  burlesque  and  blasphemy. 
Gesticulation  and  gymnastics,  contortions  of  the  face 
and  figure,  dishevelled  and  flying  hair,  coarse  speech, 
slang  out  of  the  gutter  and  all  the  lingo  of  sport,  carica- 
ture of  Scripture  scenes,  lurid  pictures  of  the  flames  of 
the  pit,  stories  and  jokes  that  excite  loud  laughter, 
familiarity  with  sacred  things  and  with  God,  irrever- 
ence that  approaches  blasphemy, — many  are  the  arts 
used  by  some  evangelists,  even  by  men  of  ability  and 
genius,  by  which  they  draw  crowds  and  count  their 
converts  by  the  thousand.  Much  of  this  work  is  painful 
and  pitiful  and  does  immense  harm.  Yet  these  abuses 
and  excesses  do  not  inhere  in  revivalism,  and  revivals 
can  be  and  mostly  are  conducted  in  accordance  with 
Scripture  and  psychology,  sanity  and  sense.  The 
preaching  and  all  the  influences  used  in  revival  should 
be  primarily  addressed  to  the  reason  and  conscience  so 
as  to  lead  men  to  change  their  minds,  and  then  the 
feelings  will  take  care  of  themselves,  and  the  will  will 
f<jll()w  with  the  appropriate  action.  It  is  not  meant 
that  no  appeal  should  be  made  directly  to  the  feelings 
and  the  will,  but  the  primary  appeal  should  be  to  the 
mind  and  conscience.  "  Change  your  mind,"  is  the  first 
call  of  the  gosjMil,  and  when  this  order  is  reversed  the 
mind  is  thrown  out  of  gear  and  balance  and  Ihcn  it 
works  badly.  Conversion  is  a  rational  process  and 
should  always  take  place  along  tiiis  lino.  \Vhen  re- 
vivals follow  this  law  they  are  legitimate  in  their 
methods  and  have  then  always  proved   the  power  of 


174      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

God  unto  salvation,  winning  hundreds  and  thousands 
of  converts,  quickening  congregations,  shaking  great 
cities  and  leaving  their  impress  upon  countries  and 
upon  centuries. 

5.  The  Power  of  the  Will  in  Conversion. — There 
arises  once  more  at  this  point  a  very  important  psy- 
chological and  ethical  question  in  connection  with  con- 
version: Being  an  act  of  the  mind  and  judgment,  a 
question  of  truth  and  duty,  is  not  conversion  subject  to 
fact  and  reason,  to  evidence  and  logic,  and  hence  can 
it  be  a  mere  act  of  choice  and  will  ?  How  can  we  urge 
a  man  to  believe  on  Jesus  Christ  when  the  evidence 
does  not  convince  him  of  the  Saviourhood  of  Christ? 
How  can  a  man  believe  in  God  w^hen  his  logic  drives 
him  into  agnosticism?  Ought  not  a  man  to  be  loyal  to 
his  sense  of  truth  above  everything  else,  whatever  it 
may  cost  him? 

The  first  answer  to  this  question  is  that  a  man  ought 
first  and  above  all  to  be  loval  to  his  sense  of  truth. 
Truth  is  the  primary  virtue  and  duty  of  the  mind,  the 
fundamental  basis  of  all  character  and  conduct,  the 
highest  obligation  of  the  human  soul.  And  our  preach- 
ing should  always  recognize  and  respect  and  emphasize"^ 
this  primary  virtue  and  duty.  Never  should  we  give 
the  impression  that  men  are  to  believe  the  gospel  or 
receive  a  creed  irrespective  of  its  truth  as  an  arbitrary 
choice  of  the  will,  or  as  a  traditional  and  partisan  atti- 
tude and  act.  "  I  adjure  thee,  that  thou  say  nothing 
but  the  truth  to  me,"  said  an  ancient  king  to  a  Hebrew 
prophet  (II  Chronicles  18: 15),  and  the  Christian  min- 
ister, disciple  of  him  who  said,  "  I  am  the  truth,"  should 
obey  the  same  injunction  to-day.  Let  us  know  and 
obey  the  truth  though  the  heavens  fall.  And  the 
preacher  should  ever  be  a  sincere  truth-seeker,  open 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION      175 

minded,  frank  and  fair,  candid  and  charitable  in  all  his 
endeavours   to  persuade  men. 

However,  when  we  have  emphasized  this  attitude 
towards  truth  we  have  not  said  all  that  is  to  be  said 
on  this  point.  It  is  not  a  mere  act  of  will  by  which  the 
sinner  turns  from  sin  to  righteousness  in  conversion, 
but  a  change  of  mind  involving  all  his  faculties,  his 
reason  and  motives  and  feelings  as  the  ground  of  the 
decision  and  action  of  his  will.  The  sinner  ought  not 
to  be  converted  or  yield  to  conversion  against  his  rea- 
son, but  he  should  yield  only  in  accordance  with  the 
full  play  of  his  reason  and  his  whole  mind. 

And  further,  the  matter  of  believing  truth  is  not  as 
clear  and  simple  as  at  first  it  may  seem.  Truth  is  not 
an  object  that  stands  over  against  the  mind  in  such 
lucidity  and  certainty  that  all  we  have  to  do  is  just 
to  look  at  it  and  then  we  cannot  miss  it.  "  No  bell  in 
us  tolls,"  says  Professor  James,  "  to  let  us  know  for 
certain  when  truth  is  in  our  grasp."  On  the  contrary, 
truth,  especially  moral  and  religious  truth,  is  some- 
thing for  which  we  select  the  materials  and  then  put 
them  together  in  form  and  meaning:  that  is,  ethical 
truth  is  something  we  make. 

We  have  already  seen  that  it  is  in  our  power  to 
control  the  process  of  attention  by  which  we  throw  it 
from  one  object  to  another  and  by  which  we  select  the 
associations  that  gatlier  around  the  chosen  object  and 
intensify  it  until  it  i)ersuades  the  mind  as  trutli  and 
then  moves  the  will.  This  selective  power  of  attention 
and  assr)ciation  is  itself  a  control  that  goes  far  towards 
choosing  and  creating  our  ethical  beliefs.  And,  fur- 
ther, our  moral  disposition,  our  prevailing  instincts 
and  iTnf)nlse8,  aims  and  ambitions,  ideas  and  ideals, 
subtly   but    powerfully    infect    and    form,   colour   and 


176      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

mould  our  beliefs  and  determinations.  Every  one 
knows  how  his  own  attitude  and  action,  mood  and  tem- 
per, disposition  and  habits,  and  especially  how  his 
interests  and  desires  and  passions  tend  to  sway  and 
shape  his  belief  and  choice.  Our  own  souls  are  the 
soil  out  of  which  our  beliefs  grow.  And  we  are  re- 
sponsible for  the  whole  state  of  the  soul  and  for  its 
processes,  for  we  have  formed  and  cultivated  this  soil 
by  constantly  dropping  into  it  our  own  free  acts,  as 
the  forest  by  shedding  its  leaves  has  formed  its  own 
loam. 

In  a  still  deeper  sense  we  create  our  own  ethical 
ideals  and  beliefs.  In  many  instances  an  ethical  truth 
is  true  only  as  we  make  it  true.  Our  faith  is  a  fact  in' 
process  of  its  realization.  An  ideal  of  character  is 
obviously  realized  only  as  we  believe  in  it  and  commit 
ourselves  to  it  in  obedience.  We  make  our  own  moral 
life,  and  our  faith  in  such  a  life  precedes  and  condi- 
tions and  creates  it.  The  same  principle  extends  to 
other  lives:  we  can  make  their  lives  good  only  as  we 
believe  in  goodness  and  as  we  have  faith  in  them.  And, 
extending  the  same  principle,  we  can  make  a  good 
world  for  ourselves  in  so  far  as  we  believe  in  the  pos- 
sibility of  such  a  world  and  commit  ourselves  to  it  in 
conviction  and  courage,  service  and  sacrifice.  It  is  our 
right  and  it  is  within  our  power  to  vote  for  a  rational 
universe  and  good  world,  and  our  faith  will  turn  this 
belief  for  us  into  a  fact.  Ethical  objects  are  not  what 
they  are  independently  of  us,  but  in  a  large  degree  we 
make  them  w^hat  they  are  for  us ;  and  herein  lies  a  large 
part  of  our  responsibility. 

Professor  William  James,  in  his  book  entitled  The 
Will  to  Believe,  has  worked  this  view  out  into  com- 
pleteness, stating  it  with  all  its  limitations  and  guard- 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION      177 

ing  it  from  misunderstanding  and  misapplication,  and 
the  following  quotations  will  indicate  his  line  of 
thought :  "  There  are,  then,  cases  where  a  fact  cannot 
come  at  all  unless  a  preliminary  faith  exists  in  its 
coming.  And  where  faith  in  a  fact  can  help  create  the 
fact,  that  would  be  an  insane  logic  which  should  say 
that  faith  running  ahead  of  scientific  evidence  is  the 
*  lowest  kind  of  immorality '  into  which  a  thinking 
being  can  fall.  Yet  such  is  the  logic  by  which  our  sci- 
entific absolutists  pretend  to  regulate  our  lives!  .  .  . 
The  freedom  to  believe  can  only  cover  living  options 
which  the  intellect  cannot  by  itself  resolve;  and  liv- 
ing options  never  seem  absurdities  to  him  who 
has  them  to  consider.  When  I  look  at  the  religious 
question  as  it  really  puts  itself  to  concrete  men,  and 
when  I  think  of  all  the  possibilities  which  both  prac- 
tically and  theoretically  it  involves,  then  this  command 
that  we  shall  put  a  stopper  on  our  heart,  instincts,  and 
courage,  and  wait — acting  of  course  meanwhile  more 
or  less  as  if  religion  were  not  true — till  doomsday,  or 
till  such  a  time  as  our  intellect  and  senses  working 
together  may  have  raked  in  evidence  enough, — this  com- 
mand, I  say,  seems  to  me  the  queerest  idol  ever  manu- 
factured in  the  philosophic  cave.  .  .  .  Often  enough 
our  faith  teforehand  in  an  uncertified  result  is  the  only 
thing  that  makes  the  result  come  true.  ...  If  your 
heart  does  not  tvant  a  world  of  moral  reality,  your 
head  will  assuredlv  never  make  vou  believe  in  one.  .  .  . 
This  life  is  worth  living,  we  can  say,  since  it  is  what  we 
make  it,  from  the  moral  point  of  vietc.  ...  I  confess 
that  I  do  not  see  why  the  very  existence  of  an  invisible 
world  may  not  in  part  depend  on  the  personal  response 
whidi  anv  one  of  us  niav  make  to  the  religious  ajjpeal. 
God  himself,  in  short,  may  draw  vital  strength  and  in- 


178      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

crease  of  being  from  our  fidelity.  For  mj  own  part,  I 
do  not  know  what  the  sweat  and  blood  and  tragedy  of 
this  life  mean,  if  they  mean  anything  short  of  this.  If 
this  life  be  not  a  real  fight,  in  which  something  is 
eternally  gained  for  the  universe  by  success,  it  is  no 
better  than  a  game  of  private  theatricals  from  which 
one  may  withdraw  at  will.  But  it  feels  like  a  real 
fight, — as  if  there  were  something  really  wild  in  the 
universe  which  we,  w^ith  all  our  idealities  and  faithful- 
nesses, are  needed  to  redeem ;  and  first  of  all  to  redeem 
our  own  hearts  from  atheisms  and  fears."  ^ 

Browning  teaches  the  same  truth  in  "  Bishop  Blou- 
gram's  Apology  " : 

Once  own  the  use  of  faith,  I'll  find  you  faith, 

•  •••••• 

You  criticize  the  soul?  it  reared  this  tree — 
This  broad  life  and  whatever  fruit  it  bears! 

Like  you  this  Christianity  or  not? 

It  may  be  false,  but  will  you  wish  it  true? 

Has  it  your  vote  to  be  so  if  it  can? 

Trust  you  an  instinct  silenced  long  ago 

That  will  break  silence  and  enjoin  you  love 

What  mortified  philosophy  is  hoarse, 

And  all  in  vain,  with  bidding  you  despise? 

If  you  desire  faith — then  you've  faith  enough. 

But  who  taught  this  principle  of  psychology  long 
before  philosopher  and  poet  expressed  it?  He  who  said, 
^'  If  any  man  willeth  to  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of 
the  teaching,  whether  it  is  of  God,  or  whether  I  speak 
from  myself"  (John  7:17).  This  truth  is  frequently 
expressed  in  the  Bible.  "  The  meek  will  he  guide  in 
justice;  the  meek  will  he  teach  his  way."    "  The  friend- 

^  TJie  Will  to  Believe,  pp.  23  to  61. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION      179 

ship  of  Jehovah  is  with  them  that  fear  him;  and  he 
will  shew  them  his  covenant"  (Psalm  25:  9,  14). 

The  principle  of  this  method  is  that  "  obedience  is 
the  organ  of  spiritual  knowledge,"  to  use  the  title  of  "^ 
Frederick  W.  Robertson's  famous  sermon  on  the  sub- 
ject. When  we  enter  upon  a  line  of  obedience  to  a 
truth  it  unfolds  before  us  in  clearness  and  certaintv, 
opening  before  us  as  a  road  out  of  a  forest.  Experi- 
ence proves  it  step  by  step,  and  then  shadows  and 
clouds  are  swept  from  its  path  as  morning  mist  before 
the  sun.  It  is  thus  we  learn  any  science  and  art.  We 
really  know  these  things  only  as  we  do  them.  We  can- 
not start  out  with  a  complete  knowledge  of  any  sub- 
ject :  we  gain  only  a  glimpse  of  it,  and  this  grows  into 
clearness  as  we  follow  it  up  in  obedience.  It  is  thus 
the  chemist  masters  his  science  or  the  musician  ac- 
quires skill  in  his  art. 

And  just  so  is  it  in  the  field  of  religion.  We  cannot 
know  much  spiritual  truth  until  we  obey  it,  and  obedi- 
ence ever  opens  the  way  from  partial  knowledge  or  be- 
lief into  fuller  understanding  and  surer  faith.  The 
sinner  at  the  moment  of  his  conversion  is  not  required 
or  asked  to  believe  everything  in  the  creed  or  in  the 
Bible.  He  need  only  have  a  sense  of  his  sin  and  a  desire 
for  a  better  life.  God  may  be  a  dim  conception  to  him 
and  his  knowledge  of  Christ  very  fragmentary  and 
defective  and  even  erroneous.  There  may  be  great 
and  grave  gai)S  in  his  creed.  The  restored  blind  man 
did  not  know  whether  Jesus  was  a  sinner  or  not:  that 
surel}'  was  a  serious  defect  in  his  knowledge.  Rut  he 
could  allirni,  "One  thing  I  know,"  and  that  one  thing 
followed  out  in  obedience  led  him  on  until  he  exclaimed, 
"  Lord,  I  believe.  And  he  worshipped  him."  The  sin- 
ner at  conversion  may  have  equally  serious  defects  in 


r-» 


180      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

his  faith ;  but  if  he  follows  the  light  he  has  it  will  lead 
him  into  clearer  knowledge  of  and  a  fuller  faith  in 
Christ.  In  the  hour  of  conversion  the  sinner  should 
not  be  urged  or  asked  to  believe  everything  or  to  believe 
too  much ;  more  than  he  can  honestly  accept  and  obey. 
One  may  try  to  believe  too  much,  more  than  he  can 
digest,  as  he  can  put  too  much  food  in  his  stomach,  or 
too  much  fuel  on  a  fire.  But  when  he  obeys  what  he 
does  know  he  shall  find  the  truth  and  the  truth  will 
set  him  free. 

Conversion,  then,  is  not  an  arbitrary  act  and  does 
not  violate  the  supreme  law  of  truth  and  duty;  but  it 
is  an  act  of  the  whole  mind  in  which  the  will  can  select 
its  object  and  fix  its  attention  upon  it  until  it  grows 
into  power,  and  it  makes  the  object  of  its  ethical  faith 
and  life  by  casting  its  own  deciding  vote  for  it  and  by 
obedience  turning  faith  into  fact ;  and  on  these  grounds 
we  can  appeal  to  the  sinner  to  exercise  this  liberty  and 
responsibility  and  power  in  believing  religious  truth 
"and  turning  from  sin  unto  God. 

III.   The  Age  op  Conversion 

Psychology  confirms  and  elucidates  the  familiar  fact 
that  the  favourable  age  for  conversion  falls  in  the  early 
years  of  youth. 

I.  The. Facts  as  to  Early  Conversion. — Professor 
Starbuck  has  made  an  inductive  study  of  conversion 
and  has  plotted  the  cases  of  235  males  and  254  females, 
resulting  in  the  curve  shown  on  the  opposite  page.  He 
also  plotted  276  conversions  from  the  Drew  Theological 
Seminary  Alumni  record,  and  the  resulting  curve  is 
closely  the  same.  A  similar  study,  based  on  272  male 
conversions  and  published  by  the  American  Sunday 
School    Union,    gives    a   practically    identical    curve. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION     181 


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182      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

These  several  inductions  with  the  same  result  are  a 
scientific  confirmation  of  the  well-known  fact  of  early 
conversion. 

Commenting  on  the  facts  Professor  Starbuck  says: 
"  Conversion  does  not  occur  with  the  same  frequency  at 
all  periods  of  life.  It  belongs  almost  exclusively  to 
the  years  between  10  and  25.  The  number  of  instances 
outside  that  range  appear  few  and  scattered.  That  is, 
conversion  is  a  distinctively  adolescent  phenomenon. 
It  is  a  singular  fact  also  that  within  this  period  the 
conversions  do  not  distribute  themselves  equally  among 
the  years.  In  the  rough,  we  may  say  they  begin  to 
occur  at  7  or  8  years,  and  increase  in  number  gradu- 
ally to  10  or  11,  and  then  rapidly  to  16 ;  rapidly  decline 
to  20,  and  gradually  fall  away  after  that,  and  become 
rare  after  30.  One  may  say  that  if  conversion  has  not 
occurred  before  20,  the  chances  are  small  that  it  will  <' 
ever  be  experienced. 

But  our  reading  is  too  rough.  With  adolescence  it 
appears  that  such  awakenings  are  much  more  likely  to 
take  place  at  some  years  than  at  others,  and  that  the 
preference  of  years  varies  greatly  with  sex.  The  event 
comes  earlier  in  general  among  the  females  than  among 
the  males,  most  frequently  at  13  and  16.  Among  the 
males  it  occurs  most  often  at  17,  and  immediately  be- 
fore or  after  that  year."  ^ 

2.  The  Explanation  of  the  Facts. — The  explanation 
of  these  facts  lies  on  the  surface.  Early  youth  is  the 
period  when  all  the  plastic  powers  of  the  mind  and 
body  are  rounding  into  form  and  taking  their  set  for 
life.  Professor  Starbuck,  in  looking  for  the  psycho- 
logical reason  for  early  conversion,  says :  "  The  years 
at  which  conversions  really  begin  (9  or  10  for  boys  and 

*  The  Psychology  of  Religion,  Chapter  III. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION     183 

11  for  girls)  coincide  faiiij  with  the  years  at  which  Dr. 
Hancock  ^  in  his  experimental  tests  found  a  sudden 
increment  in  children's  ability  to  reason.  After  this 
the  reasoning  power  develops  rapidly  but  intermit- 
tently into  the  teens.  Mr.  J.  W.  Davids "  reports,  as 
the  result  of  experiments  on  the  contents  of  children's 
minds,  an  increment  in  the  mental  life  at  about  11. 
Although  the  same  mental  processes  are  not  involved 
in  reasoning  and  in  religious  awakenings.  Dr.  Han- 
cock's tests  probabl}^  indicate  a  mental  capacity  which 
Is  a  necessary  condition  for  attaining  spiritual  in- 
sight. The  point  with  which  we  are  here  concerned  is 
that  they,  together  with  some  other  tests  which  we 
shall  notice,  help  to  mark  off  a  somewhat  natural  prior 
limit  of  conversions."  ^ 

Another  cause  of  early  conversions  is  found  in  the 
physiological  changes  that  occur  at  puberty.  A  curve 
showing  the  increase  of  height  and  weight  of  average 
American  boys  and  girls  for  each  year  of  youth  presents 
striking  similarity  approaching  identity  with  the  curve 
of  age  in  conversion.  Yet  the  climaxes  in  the  curve 
of  height  and  weight  do  not  fall  exactly  on  the  points 
of  climax  in  the  conversion  curve,  but  slightly  earlier. 
The  conclusion  drawn  by  Professor  8tarbuck  is  that 
^^  conversion  and  puhcrti/  tend  to  supplement  each  other 
in  time  rather  than  to  coincide:  hut  they  may,  never- 
theless, he  mutualh)  conditioned^' 

The  fact  of  this  coincidence  of  conversion  with 
puberty  may  be  pressed  too  far,  and  some  have  con- 
nected religion  closely  with  the  sex  instinct  and  even 

*  John  Hancock,  "  Children's  Ability  to  Reason,"  Educational 
Review,  October,  180G. 

»  Interna.  Cong,  fiir  Paijchologie,  Munich,  1890,   p.  449  ct  acq. 

•  The  Psychology  of  Religion,  p.  35. 


184.      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

gone  so  far  as  to  allege  that  it  is  a  form  of  sex  degen- 
eration. Such  a  view  is  too  absurd  to  be  considered. 
The  true  explanation  is  that  early  youth  is  the  spring- 
time of  life  when  all  its  seeds  burst  into  bud  and  bloom. 
^'  The  voice  changes,"  says  Starbuck,  "  the  beard 
sprouts,  the  proportions  of  the  head  are  altered,  the 
volume  of  the  heart  increases,  that  of  the  arteries  di- 
minishes, the  blood  pressure  is  heightened,  and  central 
among  the  changes  are  those  of  the  reproductive  sys- 
tem, which  makes  the  child  into  the  man  or  woman. 
The  amount  of  carbonic  acid  in  the  breath  is  greatly 
increased  at  this  period,  showing  the  increment  in  the 
processes  which  tear  down  and  build  up  the  system." 
Concomitantly  with  these  physiological  changes  the 
development  of  the  lower  mental  processes,  such  as  the 
senses  and  memory,  slows  down  and  may  even  come  to 
a  standstill,  and  the  higher  mental  operations  of  dis- 
crimination and  judgment  and  imagination  leap  for- 
ward. Sight  passes  into  insight,  and  consciousness  into 
conscience.  It  is  to  be  expected,  then,  that  the  still 
higher  mental  and  spiritual  powers  would  awaken  in 
this  general  springtime,  or  be  caught  up  on  this  rising 
flood  and  carried  to  high  tide.  The  soul  is  a  unit,  the 
whole  personality  of  soul  and  body,  shares  in  a  com- 
mon life,  and  all  its  faculties  spring  out  of  one  seed- 
plot  and  bloom  together. 

Psychology  thus  confirms  and  emphasizes  the  teach- 
ing of  Scripture  and  experience  that  early  youth  is  the 
time  to  seek  the  Lord.  All  powers  are  then  plastic  and 
easily  moulded  into  religious  faith  and  life.  The  flood 
of  capacity  and  susceptibility  is  then  rising  and,  being 
seized,  surely  leads  on  to  spiritual  fortune.  But  the 
plastic  powers  soon  cool  and  harden  into  habits  which 
in  after  years  strong  crying  and  tears  may  not  break. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION      185 

The  flood  of  youthful  susceptibility  being  "  omitted,  all 
the  voyage  of  their  life  is  bound  in  shallows  and  in 
miseries." 

Scripture  is  emphatic  and  insistent  on  this  point. 
*'  Those  that  seek  me  early  shall  find  me."  "  Remember 
now  thy  Creator  in  the  days  of  thy  youth,  while  the 
evil  days  come  not,  nor  the  years  draw^  nigh,  when  thou 
shalt  say,  I  have  no  pleasure  in  them."  The  great 
Teacher,  who  understood  psychology  at  every  point, 
knew  this  principle:  "  Suffer  the  little  children  to  come 
unto  me,  and  forbid  them  not;  for  of  such  is  the  king- 
dom of  heaven."  And  the  psychologist,  rising  from  his 
investigations  and  writing  in  the  cold  dry  light  of  his 
science,  says:  "  One  may  sav  that  if  conversion  has  not 
occurred  before  20,  the  chances  are  small  that  it  will 
ever  be  experienced." 

This  point,  then,  should  be  pressed  upon  the  young 
with  all  earnestness  and  solemnity.  That  rapidly  de- 
scending curve  after  20  is  an  ominous  prospect  and 
prophecy  for  the  young.  They  should  be  led  to  see  in 
its  descent  their  lessening  chances  and  be  urged  to  act 
on  the  admonition,  '*  Now  is  the  accepted  time;  now  is 
the  day  of  salvation."  And  yet  this  truth  should  not 
be  so  presented  and  pressed  as  to  exclude  from  hope 
or  discourage  those  who  have  passed  early  youth  and 
have  not  accepted  salvation.  ^lany  are  converted  in 
the  later  years  of  life,  jterhaps  more  than  wo  know. 
Some,  who  passed  through  a  conversion  experience  in 
youth,  in  after  life  find  that  they  were  only  super- 
ficially and  temporarily  converted,  and  they  experience 
a  deejH^r  change  of  conviction  that  is  a  real  and  iktuui- 
nent  conversion,  and  such  cases  are  not  always  re- 
ported among  conversions.  The  door  of  this  duty  and 
hope  should  never  be  closed  in  this  world.    One  thief 


186      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

was  saved  on  the  cross:  but  apparently  only  one,  a 
fact  that  contains  both  hope  and  warning. 

IV.    Types  of  Conversion 

Conversion  is  subject  to  all  the  variations  of  indi- 
viduality, and  therefore  manifests  different  forms  or 
types.  These  may  be  classified  in  various  ways,  and 
any  such  classification  is  more  or  less  arbitrary.  The 
following  w^ill  serve  to  mark  the  chief  types. 

I.  Childhood  and  Adult  Conversions. — Childhood 
conversions  usually  take  place  as  the  result  of  the  at- 
mosphere and  training  of  a  Christian  home  and  may 
unfold  by  a  process  of  contagion  and  education.  Re- 
generation may  be  effected  at  any  period  of  childhood 
and  even  before  birth,  as  appears  to  have  been  the 
case  with  John  the  Baptist  (Luke  1 :  41) .  There  is  such 
solidarity  between  parents  and  children  that  the 
method  of  both  nature  and  grace  is  that  the  life  of 
parents  should  flow  into  children  and  mould  them 
from  earliest  infancy.  Under  this  process  the  chil- 
dren of  Christian  parents  should  grow  up  in  the 
Christian  life  and  know  no  other.  This  is  the  ideal 
type  of  conversion. 

The  Scriptures  teach  and  frequently  illustrate  this 
type.  "  Train  up  a  child  in  the  way  he  should  go ;  and 
when  he  is  old,  he  will  not  depart  from  it."  ''  Bring 
them  up  in  the  nurture  and  admonition  of  the  Lord.'' 
"  He  hath  blessed  thy  children  with  thee,''  "  for  the 
promise  is  to  you  and  to  your  children."  This  sense  of 
continuity  and  heredity  in  the  religious  life  was  very 
strong  in  the  Hebrew  home  and  race,  and  the  divine 
blessing  upon  the  chosen  people  from  the  beginning 
was  promised  "  unto  thee,  and  to  thy  seed  after  thee." 
The  child  Samuel  was  a  beautiful  instance  of  one  who 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION      187 

was  dedicated  to  the  Lord  from  before  Lis  birth  and 
grew  up  in  the  l^nowledge  of  the  Lord,  and  Paul  dated 
Timothy's  Christian  life  from  his  grandmother,  when 
in  writing  to  him  he  called  to  his  remembrance  "  the 
unfeigned  faith  that  is  in  thee,  which  dwelt  first  in  thy 
grandmother  Lois,  and  thy  mother  Eunice."  And  the 
great  example  is  Jesus  himself,  who  was  perfect  in  his 
childhood  as  in  his  manhood,  and  from  his  infancy  "  in- 
creased in  wisdom  and  stature,  and  in  favour  with  God 
and  man,-'  and  in  his  boyhood  was  about  his  "  Father's 
business."  The  exj^ectation  of  the  Hebrew  prophets 
was  that  the  time  would  come  when  this  type  of  con- 
version would  become  universal  and  normal.  Isaiah 
declared,  "  All  thy  children  shall  be  taught  of  the  Lord; 
and  great  shall  be  the  peace  of  thy  children  " ;  and 
Jeremiah  prophesied,  "  They  shall  all  know  me  from 
the  least  of  them  unto  the  greatest  of  them,  saith  the 
Lord."  These  prophecies  will  be  fulfilled  as  Christian- 
ity becomes  universal  and  the  Christian  home  realizes 
its  ideal. 

This  view  of  childhood  conversion  was  wrought  out 
with  illuminating  power  by  Horace  Bushnell  in  his 
book  on  Christian  Nurture.  The  proposition  of  the 
book  is  "  That  the  child  is  to  grow  up  a  Christian,  and 
never  know  himself  as  ])eing  otherwise."  Some  quo- 
tations gathered  from  its  pages  will  show  his  teaching. 
**  Never  is  i(  too  earlv  for  good  to  be  commnnicatod. 
Infancy  and  childhood  are  the  ages  most  i)liant  to 
good.  And  who  can  think  it  necessary  that  the  plastic 
nature  of  childhood  must  first  be  hardened  into  stone, 
and  stitfened  into  enmitv  towards  God  and  all  duty, 
iK'fore  it  can  become  a  candiilate  for  Christian  char- 
acter! There  could  not  be  a  nion'  unnecessary  mistake, 
and  it  is  as  unnatural  and  pernicious,  I  fear,  as  it  is 


188      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

unnecessary.  There  are  many  who  assume  the  radical 
goodness  of  human  nature,  and  the  work  of  Christian 
education  is,  in  their  view,  only  to  educate  or  educe 
the  good  that  is  in  us.  Let  no  one  be  disturbed  by 
suspicion  of  a  coincidence  between  what  I  have  said 
and  such  a  theory.  The  natural  pravity  of  man  is 
plainly  asserted  in  the  Scriptures,  and,  if  it  were  not, 
the  familiar  laws  of  physiology  would  require  us  to 
believe,  what  amounts  to  the  same  thing."  "  It  is  not 
designed  to  assert  a  power  in  the  parent  to  renew 
the  child,  or  that  a  child  can  be  renewed  by  any  agency 
of  the  Spirit  less  immediate,  than  that  which  renews 
the  parent  himself."  ^ 

"■  The  most  important  age  of  Christian  nurture  is 
the  first;  that  which  we  have  called  the  age  of  im- 
pressions, just  that  age,  in  which  the  duties  and  cares 
of  a  really  Christian  nurture  are  so  commonly  post- 
poned, or  assumed  to  have  not  yet  arrived.  I  have  no 
scales  to  measure  quantities  of  effect  in  this  matter  of 
early  training,  but  I  may  be  allowed  to  express  my 
solemn  conviction,  that  more,  as  a  general  fact,  is  done, 
or  lost  by  neglect  of  doing,  on  a  child's  immortality,  in 
the  first  three  years  of  his  life,  than  in  all  his  years 
of  discipline  afterwards."  "  Parents,  therefore,  in  the 
religious  teaching  of  their  children,  are  not  to  have  it 
as  a  point  of  fidelity  to  press  them  into  some  crisis  of 
high  experience,  called  conversion.  Their  teaching  is 
to  be  that  which  feeds  a  growth,  not  that  wMch  stirs  a 
revolution.  It  is  to  be  nurture,  presuming  on  a  grace 
already  and  always  given,  and,  just  for  that  reason, 
jealously  careful  to  raise  no  thought  of  some  high 
climax  to  be  passed.  For  precisely  here  is  the  special 
advantage  of  a  true  sacramental  nurture  in  the  prom- 

^  Christian  'Nurture^  pp.  22  and  31. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION     189 

ise,  that  it  does  not  put  the  child  on  passing  a  crisis, 
where  he  is  thrown  out  of  balance  not  unlikely,  and 
becomes  artificially  conscious  of  himself,  but  it  leaves 
him  to  be  always  increasing  in  faith,  and  reaching  for- 
ward, in  the  simplest  and  most  dutiful  manner,  to  be- 
come what  God  is  helping  him  to  be."  ^  Yet  Dr.  Bush- 
nell  also  says,  "  I  do  not  affirm  that  every  child  may, 
in  fact  and  without  exception,  be  so  trained  that  he 
certainly  will  grow  up  a  Christian." 

So  common  has  the  expectation  of  a  crisis  in  conver- 
sion come  to  be  entertained  that  parents  are  sometimes 
anxiously  concerned  when  their  children  do  not  experi- 
ence it  and  seem  simply  to  grow  up  in  the  Christian 
life;  and  Christians  are  sometimes  concerned  when  they 
do  not  have  this  experience  themselves.  This  was  the 
case  with  Baxter  as  he  explains  in  his  autobiography: 
"  My  next  doubt  was  lest  education  and  fear  had  done 
all  that  was  ever  done  upon  my  soul,  and  regeneration 
and  love  were  yet  to  seek;  because  I  had  found  con- 
victions from  ni}^  childhood,  and  found  more  fear  than 
love  in  all  my  duties  and  restraints.  But  I  afterwards 
perceived  that  education  is  God's  ordinary  way  for 
the  conveyance  of  grace,  and  ought  no  more  to  be  set 
in  opposition  to  the  Spirit  than  the  preaching  of  the 
Word :  and  that  it  was  the  great  mercy  of  God  to  begin 
with  me  so  soon,  and  to  prevent  such  sins  as  else  might 
have  been  mv  shame  and  sorrow  while  1  lived;  and  that 
repentance  is  good,  but  prevention  and  innocence  is 
better:  which  though  we  cannot  attain  unto  iRM-fection, 
yet  the  more  the  better." - 

Early  conversions  partake  of  the  natuiv  of  child- 
hood.    Young   converts   usually   exhibit   entire   couti- 

*  Ibid.,  pp.  24S  nnd  3S1. 

■  The  Life  of  the  Reverend  Mr.  Richard  DcLxtcr,  pp.  6-7. 


190      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

dence  of  faith,  tenderness  of  feeling,  and  exuberance  of 
zeal.  They  are  naive  in  their  inexperience,  are  little 
aware  of  doubts  and  difficulties,  and  have  little  fore- 
sight or  foreboding  of  coming  trials.  God  is  very  real 
to  them  and  is  often  conceived  of  in  anthropomorphic 
terms,  and  the  Bible  is  taken  literally  and  is  all  equally 
important.  The  church  and  its  ordinances  are  so  vital 
in  their  thought  that  they  become  identified  with  re- 
ligion itself,  so  that  their  religion  is  predominantly 
ceremonial  and  external.  Young  converts  are  moulded 
by  their  environment  and  reflect  the  teaching  of  the 
home  and  church.  They  are  great  conformists  and 
show  little  originality  or  tendency  to  depart  from 
traditional  teaching  and  forms.  They  are  strongly  con- 
servative and  orthodox. 

Starbuck  found  from  his  answers  to  questions  that 
child  converts  are  marked  by  credulity.  ''  Children, 
for  the  most  part,  accept  in  an  unquestioning  way  the 
ideas  taught  in  church,  Sunday  school  and  home,  and 
unconsciously  conform  to  them."  And  he  further 
found  that  "  religion  is  distinctively  external  to  the 
child  rather  than  something  which  possesses  inner  sig- 
nificance." 

Young  converts  early  become  settled  in  their  faith 
and  habits  in  the  Christian  life.  Of  course  many  of 
them  fall  away  in  mature  years,  but  a  large  percentage 
of  them  remain  steadfast  through  life,  and  on  the 
whole  they  form  the  most  stable  and  fruitful  Chris- 
tians. Adult  converts,  being  more  reflective  in  their 
decisions  and  experiences,  usually  exhibit  character- 
istics somewhat  different  from  those  of  child  converts, 
and  these  will  appear  in  the  types  that  follow. 

2.  Gradual  and  Comfortable,  and  Sudden  and  Vio- 
lent, Conversions. — When  conversion  takes  place  in 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION      191 

mature  years  it  often  occurs  as  the  result  of  religious 
training  which  gradually  ripens  into  conviction  of 
duty  and  results  in  action  under  some  favouring  cir- 
cumstance or  influence.  A  typical  instance  of  this  kind 
of  conversion  is  that  of  Lydia  under  the  preaching  of 
Paul  at  Philippi :  "  And  on  the  sabbath  we  went  out  of 
the  city  by  a  river  side,  where  prayer  was  wont  to  be 
made;  and  we  sat  down,  and  spake  unto  the  women 
which  resorted  thither.  And  a  certain  woman  named 
Lydia,  a  seller  of  purple,  of  the  city  of  Thyatira,  which 
worshipped  God,  heard  us:  whose  heart  the  Lord 
opened,  that  she  attended  unto  the  things  which  were 
spoken  of  Paul.  And  when  she  was  baptized,  and  her 
household,  she  besought  us,  saying,  If  ye  have  judged 
me  to  be  faithful  to  the  Lord,  come  into  my  house,  and 
abide  there.  And  she  constrained  us  "  (Acts  IG:  13-15). 
This  is  a  beautiful  instance  of  a  gradual  and  com- 
fortable conversion,  unattended  with  any  excitement  or 
special  personal  distress.  Lydia  went  to  the  place  of 
accustomed  prayer  where  she  worshipped  God  accord- 
ing to  her  light  and  heard  the  gospel.  At  this  point 
a  divine  link  is  inserted  in  the  process  as  the  Lord 
opened  her  heart.  The  human  steps  are  then  resumed 
and  she  gave  attention  to  the  truth  and  yielded  to  it  in 
bai)tism  and  at  once  proceeded  to  enter  upon  active 
Christian  service.  These  steps  mark  deliberation  and 
gradual  progress  in  enlightenment  and  obedience. 
There  are  many  such  conversions  in  every  church  and 
(christian  community.  The  truth  as  to  sin  and  salva- 
tion through  Christ  is  presented  in  the  ordinary  places 
and  ways,  and  as  it  is  heard  attention  is  given  to  it 
until  it  stirs  the  fe<ilings  and  moves  the  will.  No  si)e- 
cial  sense  of  sin  and  guilt  is  experienced  but  only  a 
quiet  conviction  of  these  things,  and  no  ecstatic  joy 


192      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

accompanies  the  act  of  decision  and  confession,  but 
gradually  as  the  night  melts  into  the  morning  or  as  a 
bud  unfolds  into  its  blossom  the  soul  passes  from  dark- 
ness to  light  or  opens  into  the  flower  and  ripens  into 
the  fruit  of  the  Christian  life. 

On  the  other  hand,  there  are  sudden  and  violent  con- 
versions. Nature  ordinarily  works  through  quiet  gen- 
tle influences,  sunshine  and  growth  and  imperceptible 
noiseless  agents  and  activities.  But  occasionally  her 
calm  order  is  interrupted  with  a  tremendous  upheaval, 
as  when  a  tornado  sweeps  a  path  of  destruction  through 
forest  and  village,  or  a  storm  at  sea  lashes  it  into  foam 
and  fury,  or  an  earthquake  shakes  and  cracks  the  rocky 
ribs  of  the  earth,  splitting  mountains  and  destroying 
cities  and  causing  an  awful  cataclysm.  Such  events 
are  not  wanting  in  the  spiritual  world.  Our  mental 
life  is  subject  to  profound  shocks  and  crises,  and  our 
religious  experience  at  times  culminates  in  an  explo- 
sion. There  were  sudden  and  violent  conversions  on  the 
day  of  Pentecost,  as  great  modern  revivals  witness  them 
by  the  hundred  and  thousand,  and  Paul  had  a  notable 
and  extreme  experience  of  this  type.  The  quiet  and 
orderly  conversion  of  Lydia  was  quickly  followed  by  the 
earthquake  conversion  of  the  Philippian  jailer.  In 
such  instances  the  soul  comes  to  a  crisis  and  climax, 
though  it  may  have  been  long  preparing  for  and  ap- 
proaching it.  The  truth  has  been  slumbering  in  the 
subconsciousness,  secretly  nursing  its  vitality,  like 
seeds  lying  dormant  in  the  soil  waiting  for  the  coming 
summer. 

The  nature  of  this  crisis  varies  endlessly-  Starbuck 
has  gathered  instances  of  many  forms,  some  of  which 
are  the  following :  "  This  is  the  first  aspect  of  conver- 
sion :  the  person  emerges  from  a  smaller,  limited  world 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION     193 

of  existence  into  a  larger  world  of  being.  His  life 
becomes  swallowed  up  in  a  larger  whole."  In  another 
aspect,  "  conversion  is  the  surrender  of  the  personal 
will  to  be  guided  by  the  larger  forces  of  which  it  is 
a  part.'*  "  The  individual  learns  to  transfer  himself 
from  a  centre  of  self-activity  into  an  organ  of  revela- 
tion of  universal  being,  and  to  live  a  life  of  affection 
for  and  oneness  with  the  larger  life  outside."  Another 
form  of  this  crisis  is  the  sudden  disruption  of  life  into 
antagonistic  forces.  "  There  are  forces  in  human  life 
and  its  surroundings  which  tend  to  break  the  unity 
and  harmony  of  consciousness;  and  its  unity  once  de- 
stroyed, the  contrast  between  what  is,  and  what  might 
be,  gives  birth  to  ideals  and  sets  of  two  selves  in  sharp 
opposition  to  each  other."  These  "  two  selves  "  strug- 
gled in  fierce  combat  in  Paul  (Romans,  chapter  VII), 
and  they  often  disrupt  a  man  at  the  time  of  conversion 
so  that  he  cries  out,  "  And  ah  for  a  man  to  arise  in 
me,  that  the  man  I  am  may  cease  to  be." 

The  conditions  of  such  crises  also  vary.  They  may 
arise  as  the  result  of  some  peculiar  happening  in  the 
personal  life,  or  in  connection  with  revival  excitement 
and  contagion,  or  as  the  consequence  of  some  word  or 
sermon  or  song  that  drops  into  the  subconsciousness 
and  taps  the  deep  early  training  and  accumulated  ex- 
periences or  even  explodes  it  as  a  spark  of  fire  explodes 
a  powder  magazine.  The  most  trivial  happening  may 
suddenly  take  by  surprise  and  conquer  a  soul  that 
thinks  it  is  intrenched  and  secure  against  religious 
invasion  and  capture. 

Just  when  wo  are  safest,  there's  a  sunset  touch, 
A  fancy  from  a  llower-lx'll,  sonn-  one's  death, 
A  chorus-ending  from  Euripides, — 


194<       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

And  that's  enough  for  fifty  hopes  and  fears 
As  old  and  new  at  once  as  nature's  self, 
To  rap  and  knock  and  enter  in  our  soul, 


and  then  conversion  takes  place.  When  conversion 
thus  precipitates  a  crisis  in  the  soul,  it  breaks  its 
unity  and  peace  and  sets  up  a  conflict  that  may  be 
fierce  as  a  battle;  and  peace  may  come  slowly  as  the 
result  of  a  long  process  of  adjustment  of  these  conflict- 
ing elements,  or  quickly  as  the  result  of  a  sudden  total 
surrender  of  the  will  to  a  sense  of  duty  and  to  the  grace 
of  God. 

Some  souls  thus  have  an  easy  and  comfortable  con- 
version and  are  born  the  second  time  almost  as  uncon- 
sciously as  the  first  time;  and  others  have  a  sharp  and 
even  a  terrible  experience  and  are  converted  almost  in 
a  convulsion. 

3.  Intellectual  and  Emotional  Conversions. — Some 
conversions  are  predominantly  intellectual  in  their 
processes  and  others  emotional,  although  of  course  both 
of  these  elements  are  always  involved  in  this  change. 
The  intellectual  man  acts  on  reasons  seen  and  con- 
sidered by  which  he  is  persuaded  of  truth  and  duty. 
And  appeal  to  mere  tradition  or  authority  and  much 
less  an  appeal  to  mere  feeling  does  not  tend  to  convince 
him :  on  the  contrary  it  is  likely  to  excite  his  opposi- 
tion and  even  resentment.  His  mind  follows  logical 
processes  and  with  him  fact  and  evidence  and  proof  are 
the  first  and  main  consideration.  His  faith  must  be 
rationalized  and  only  as  he  is  convinced  can  he  be 
converted. 

This  is  a  legitimate  process  and  demand.  The  Scrip- 
tures recognize  it  throughout.  It  is  not  the  method  of 
any  prophet  or  apostle,  much  less  of  Jesus  himself,  to 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION      195 

override  reason  and  carry  the  soul  off  by  sheer  au- 
thority or  on  a  flood  of  feeling.  "  Come  now,  and  let 
us  reason  together,"  is  the  appeal  of  Jehovah  himself. 
"  Come  and  see,"  was  the  invitation  to  Nathanael.  To 
John  the  Baptist  in  his  doubt  Jesus  did  not  send  a  dog- 
matic answer,  but  gave  him  more  facts  and  told  him  in 
effect  to  reason  the  question  out  for  himself.  Paul, 
vrith  a  mind  of  logic  all  compact,  forging  every  argu- 
ment into  logical  links  of  steel,  "  reasoned  of  right- 
eousness, temperance,  and  judgment  to  come."  We  are 
constantly  urged  in  the  Scriptures  to  see  for  ourselves 
and  use  our  own  judgment  and  to  "  let  every  man  be 
fully  persuaded  in  his  own  mind."  God  did  not  give 
us  reason  and  then  stultify  it  by  refusing  to  let  us 
use  it  or  by  giving  it  nothing  to  do.  He  honours  the 
reason  he  gave  us  and  requires  us  to  use  it,  and  wants 
us  to  serve  him  on  rational  grounds. 

The  intellectual  man,  then,  has  a  right  to  be  given 
facts  and  reasons  that  will  appeal  to  his  mind  and  con- 
vince him  that  Jesus  Christ  is  Lord  and  able  to  save 
unto  the  uttermost.  The  intellectual  convert  may  be 
slow  in  arriving  at  truth  and  duty  and  action,  but  he 
usually  has  deep  roots  and  is  established  in  the  truth 
and  rooted  and  grounded  in  Christ.  He  is  not  easily 
shaken  in  his  matured  convictions  and  stands  strong 
and  fruitful,  like  an  oak  in  a  storm,  when  superficial 
emotional  converts  have  cooled  off,  or  when  their  shal- 
low roots  have  withered  awav. 

Our  preaching  and  teaching  should  respect  this  right 
and  demand  of  the  hunmn  niin<l.  Preaching  should 
deal  honestly  with  tlie  reason.  It  shouhl  present  facts 
and  all  the  facts  as  they  ai*e,  evade  no  dillicnlty,  indulge 
in  no  illogical  and  nnfair  arguments,  In.'  perfectly  can- 
did, and  seek  first  and  foremost  to  know  and  declare 


196      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

only  the  truth.  Many  an  unconverted  hearer  in  the 
pew  sits  in  indifference  or  in  secret  opposition  and 
rebellion  under  the  ill-informed  or  ignorant,  dogmatic, 
illogical,  fallacious,  and  unfair  reasoning  in  the  pulpit. 
We  must  meet  such  men  on  the  ground  of  reason  and 
seek  to  persuade  them  of  the  truth,  and  the  truth  will 
set  them  free. 

On  the  other  hand,  the  emotions  have  their  place 
and  right  in  human  action  and  especially  in  conversion. 
We  have  great  instinctive  feelings  that  well  up  within 
us  and  carry  us  into  action  as  a  practical  need  and 
necessity.  Religious  truth  awakens  these  emotions  and 
this  is  a  legitimate  and  normal  process.  But  some  souls 
are  sensitive  and  vibrate  more  easily  and  deeply  than 
others  in  their  emotional  nature,  and  in  them  the 
intellectual  factor  may  be  slight  and  the  feeling  factor 
predominates.  A  mere  touch  agitates  them  violently,  a 
spark  sets  them  on  fire  or  explodes  them.  Different 
emotions  may  prevail  in  different  persons  or  in  the 
same  person  at  different  times.  Fear  is  one  of  the  first 
as  it  is  the  lowest  emotion,  and  it  drives  many  through 
the  gate  of  conversion  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  At  the 
opposite  pole  of  feeling  is  the  emotion  of  love,  and  this 
fine  and  noble  feeling  woos  and  wins  many  to  the 
Saviour.  The  emotions  of  reverence  and  worship,  the 
esthetic  sense  of  the  beautiful,  regard  for  parents  and 
friends,  the  contagious  excitement  and  feeling  of  a 
revival  season, — many  are  the  forms  and  degrees  of 
feeling  that  move  the  will  in  conversion.  It  is  right  to 
present  and  press  such  truth  and  arguments  as  will 
appeal  to  and  stir  up  the  feelings.  Men  never  move, 
the  coldest  intellects  never  act,  until  they  feel  the  emo- 
tions that  pour  as  a  stream  on  the  will  and  push  it  into 
decision  and  action. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION     197 

It  is  right  and  necessary,  then,  to  preach  and  teach  so 
as  to  touch  and  fire  the  feelings.  But  this  process  needs 
to  be  guarded  against  a  mere  appeal  to  feeling  and 
against  such  excessive  emotion  as  will  submerge  the 
reason  and  carry  the  soul  off  in  an  ungovernable  flood. 
This  is  one  of  the  dangers  and  abuses  of  revivals.  Con- 
verts that  are  swept  off  in  conversion  in  this  unrea- 
soning way  are  likely  to  be  shallow  and  short-lived. 
The  fire  of  straw  quickly  burns  itself  out  and  leaves 
only  a  heap  of  ashes.  The  mushroom  that  grew  up  in 
a  night  has  no  depth  of  earth  and  withers  under  the 
sun  of  the  next  day.  Almost  every  exciting  revival 
leaves  burnt-out  converts  scattered  as  cinders  along 
its  track.  Zeal  without  knowledge  is  dangerous  in 
every  field  of  life  and  especially  so  in  religion.  Emo- 
tion is  good  and  necessary,  but  the  emotional  convert 
needs  to  be  rooted  and  grounded  in  the  truth  that  he 
may  have  roots  that  will  endure  and  feed  his  life 
through  all  changes  of  spiritual  weather  and  vicissi- 
tudes of  temptation  and  trial.  Emotional  Christians 
are  a  vital  element  in  our  churches.  They  give  warmth 
and  zeal  and  liveliness  to  our  church  life.  Feeling  is 
one  path  to  God  and  to  Christ.  But  it  is  the  truth  that 
more  deeply  and  permanently  converts  us  and  sets  us 
free. 

St.  John  saw  the  holy  city  lying  foursquare  with 
three  gates  on  each  side,  open  day  and  night.  These 
gates  symbolize  the  various  types  of  conversion  and 
modes  of  entrance  into  the  kingdom  of  God.  One  con- 
vert enters  through  the  gate  of  childhood  in  the  early 
morning  on  the  east  side,  and  another  late  in  the  even- 
ing time  far  down  the  western  sloj)e  of  life.  One 
enters  gradually  and  comfortably  without  any  serious 
distress  or  disturbance,  as  the  dawn  melts  into  the  day, 


198      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

and  another  through  a  storm  of  doubt  and  perplexity 
or  through  a  sudden  convulsion  of  violence  and  agony. 
One  enters  through  the  door  of  the  mind,  persuaded  by 
fact  and  reason  of  the  truth  and  duty  of  the  Christian 
life,  and  another  through  the  door  of  the  heart,  impelled 
by  feeling.  One  is  driven  in  through  the  gate  of  fear, 
and  another  is  coaxed  and  wooed  in  through  the  gate 
of  love.  One  is  attracted  by  one  truth  in  the  teaching 
of  Jesus  or  grace  in  his  character  or  call  to  his  service, 
and  another  by  another  element  that  enlists  his  inter- 
est. One  is  charmed  by  his  meekness,  and  another  is 
inspired  by  his  manliness.  One  sits  with  Mary  in 
passive  meditation  at  his  feet,  and  another  like  Peter 
follows  Christ  the  busy  worker  and  must  always  be 
doing  something.  "  Thus  one  man  learns  best  to  love 
God  through  the  thought  of  the  Incarnation,  another 
through  the  thought  of  the  vicarious  sufferings  of  a 
Saviour.  One  is  practical  and  builds  up  his  faith  on 
the  Sermon  on  the  Mount,  and  loves  Christ  as  the  great 
Social  Leader;  another  is  speculative,  and  gets  at  his 
Lord  through  far-reaching  ideas;  while  still  another 
is  mystical,  believing  he  enters  into  the  most  intimate 
personal  communion  with  God,  spirit  to  spirit.  Yet  it 
is  the  whole  Personality  of  Christ  in  its  infinite  riches 
that  is  given  us,  and  it  is  fellowship  with  Him  as  He 
in  actuality  is  that  saves  us."  ^ 

All  of  these  and  other  types  of  conversion  are  to 
be  expected  and  respected  as  right  and  good,  each  in 
its  own  way.  And  let  not  him  that  is  converted  in  one 
way  envy  or  disparage  or  despise  him  that  has  some 
other  type  of  experience.  We  are  all  disposed  to  think 
that  other  people  ought  to  conform  to  our  type,  and  we 

^  The  Psychology  of  the  Christian  Soul,  by  George  Steven,  p. 
184. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  CONVERSION      199 

may  try  to  compress  them  into  our  mould.  Parents  are 
especially  in  danger  of  this  anxiety  and  effort,  as  they 
think  their  children  should  follow  them  in  their  con- 
version, and  even  the  mother  of  Jesus  was  perplexed 
and  pained  at  his  unfolding  spiritual  life.  But  God 
has  given  us  gifts  differing  and  he  fulfils  himself  in 
many  ways.  He  has  opened  twelve  gates  to  let  all 
kinds  of  people  through  all  types  of  conversion  into 
his  kingdom,  and  we  should  not  try  or  think  to  close 
one  of  them.  "  The  wind  bloweth  where  it  listeth :  so 
is  every  one  that  is  born  of  the  spirit." 


CHAPTER  VI 
THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE   CHRISTIAN  LIFE 

THE  Christian  life,  having  had  its  divine  prin- 
ciple breathed  into  the  soul  in  regeneration  and 
its  human  activity  initiated  in  conversion,  is 
now  to  be  studied  in  the  means  and  methods  of  its 
growth  and  fruitage. 

L    Growth 

1.  The  Christian  Life  a  Growth. — The  Christian  life 
is  a  growth.  We  have  seen,  in  Chapter  II,  that  the 
soul  is  a  growth  and  have  looked  into  this  wonderful 
process.  The  religious  life  follows  the  same  law.  The 
moral  and  spiritual  nature  is  at  first  germinal  and  plas- 
tic and  gradually  unfolds  into  ethical  sensibility  and 
spiritual  maturity  and  fruitfulness.  The  religious  in- 
stincts of  dependence  and  yearning  and  practical 
needs  stir  and  assert  themselves,  religious  beliefs  and 
habits  are  formed,  the  soul  turns  from  sin  and  lives 
in  conscious  relation  with  God  a  life  of  faith  and 
prayer  and  obedience,  and  Christian  character  is  de- 
veloped and  bears  its  fruitage.  Thus  the  babe  in  Christ 
becomes  the  full-grown  and  victorious  Christian. 

2.  Pedagogical  Applications  of  the  Principle  of 
Growth. — Being  a  growth,  teaching  and  training,  doc- 
trine and  duty  should  be  adapted  to  the  Christian  life 
in  its  early  stages.     Knowledge  and  experience  and 

service  that  may  be  demanded  of  it  in  later  years  should 

200 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    201 

not  be  expected  of  it  in  the  beginning.  Truth  and  duty 
should  not  be  crowded  on  it  too  fast.  Patience  and 
charity  should  be  exercised  in  dealing  with  it.  Babes 
in  Christ  should  be  fed  on  milk,  and  strong  men  on 
meat.  Parents  therefore  should  not  urge  their  children 
forward  and  endeavour  to  bring  them  up  under  en- 
forced hot-house  growth  in  the  Christian  life,  and  they 
should  not  grow  unduly  anxious  if  their  children  un- 
fold slowly  in  this  life.  Some  children  grow  much 
slower  than  others,  and  they  should  be  given  time. 
Precocity  is  not  to  be  stimulated  in  the  Christian  life, 
any  more  than  it  is  in  intellectual  growth.  Anything 
that  may  encourage  children  to  become  self-conscious 
and  push  forward  and  make  themselves  conspicuous  so 
as  to  attract  attention  and  excite  remark  in  their  re- 
ligious experience  and  life  is  to  be  avoided,  and  any 
such  spirit  is  unhealthy  and  is  to  be  discouraged. 
When  Jesus  at  twelve  years  of  age  was  "  found  in  the 
temple,  sitting  in  the  midst  of  the  doctors,  both  hearing 
them,  and  asking  them  questions,"  he  was  not,  as  is 
sometimes  supposed,  instructing  the  rabbis  and  show- 
ing off  his  superior  wisdom  and  smartness,  but  he  was 
sitting  at  their  feet  receiving  instruction  in  all  humil- 
ity; he  was  not  teacher  but  scholar.  And  our  children 
should  be  taught  to  sit  in  the  same  reverent  and  teach- 
able spirit. 

The  pedagogical  principle  goes  deep  into  the  history 
and  psychology  of  the  Bible.  God  dealt  with  the 
Hebrews  in  their  early  days  as  children  and  accom- 
modated his  teaching  to  their  iiiiniature  condition  and 
permitted  them  to  hold  beliefs  and  follow  practices 
which  afterwards  were  outgrown  and  left  behind,  wiiile 
under  prophets  and  apostles  they  went  on  to  perfec- 
tion.    The  teaching  in   the  Old  Testament  was  also 


202      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

illuminated  and  interpreted  by  the  picture  language  of 
symbols  in  sacrifices  and  all  the  gorgeous  ceremonies 
of  the  tabernacle  and  temple,  while  in  the  New  Testa- 
ment these  ceremonies  were  superseded  by  spiritual 
worship  in  which  men  come  directly  to  God  and  wor- 
ship him  in  spirit  and  in  truth. 

Our  teaching  and  preaching  should  follow  the  same 
principle.  We  should  accommodate  our  teaching  in 
the  Sunday  school  to  the  minds  of  the  scholars,  grad- 
ing it  from  beginners  to  adults.  And  within  the  same 
class  the  teacher  should  endeavour  to  adapt  the  instruc- 
tion to  the  individuality  of  each  scholar  so  that  it  will 
meet  and  match  his  type  of  mind  and  degree  of  develop- 
ment. Preaching  should  observe  the  same  principle  so 
far  as  possible.  It  encounters  the  difiSculty  that  its 
audience  is  not  composed  of  the  same  general  class  or 
grade,  but  contains  hearers  of  all  ages  and  conditions 
of  mind  and  education,  and  this  mixed  audience  is  one 
of  the  preacher's  problems.  How  to  shape  and  shoot 
arrows  of  truth  so  as  to  hit  the  general  mind  and  not 
go  over  the  heads  of  the  young  or  under  the  feet  of  the 
more  highly  educated  hearers  is  a  difiScult  art  and  one 
that  the  preacher  should  constantly  study  and  prac- 
tise. It  is  possible,  however,  to  present  truth  in  such 
varied  and  picturesque  forms  that  it  will  appeal  to# 
young  and  old,  illiterate  and  learned  alike.  The  ser- 
mon should  not  all  run  on  the  same  level,  but  should 
be  diversified  and  wind  around  and  up  and  down,  and 
thus  at  different  points  specially  interest  different 
classes  of  hearers  and  yet  in  some  degree  carry  them  all 
along  its  course.  Some  ministers  meet  this  point  by 
preaching  a  "  children's  sermon  "  before  the  principal 
discourse,  and  this  plan  often  works  well.  But  the 
main  sermon  should  be  level  to  the  understanding  of 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     203 

all  classes,  unless  it  be  the  very  small  children.  The 
preaching  of  Jesus  was  so  simple  and  varied  and  pic- 
turesque that  all  the  people,  including  many  children, 
heard  him  gladly. 

II.    Environment 

Life  is  always  a  frail  and  delicate  thing  and  must 
have  its  proper  environment,  or  it  easily  perishes.  A 
seed  cast  upon  a  bare  rock  cannot  sprout  and  bloom, 
and  a  baby  tossed  into  a  snowbank  would  not  long 
survive.  The  Christian  life  must  be  jjrotected  and 
nourished,  or  its  spark  will  expire. 

Life  depends  first  on  the  harmony  of  its  inner  proc- 
esses with  its  outer  conditions.  Seeds  must  find  their 
appropriate  soil  and  showers  and  sunshine,  and  few 
plants  or  animals  can  stand  a  violent  change  of  climate 
or  habitat.  The  Christian  life  thrives  best  in  a  Chris- 
tian environment,  and  a  sudden  or  violent  change  into 
unfavourable  circumstances  and  associations  may  chill 
or  kill  it;  and,  conversely,  a  change  to  more  congenial 
spiritual  conditions,  a  warmer  religious  air,  may  cause 
it  to  thrive  and  bear  fruit.  The  religious  life  is  very 
sensitive  to  its  environment  and  absorbent  of  the  at- 
mosphere in  which  it  is  immersed.  Consciously  or 
unconsciously  it  drinks  in  the  teachings,  exam])le,  and 
subtle  influences  in  the  midst  of  which  it  lives  and 
assimilates  them  into  its  own  life.  Religion,  as  we 
have  seen,  is  intensely  contagious.  Hence  the  im- 
mense importance  of  the  Christian  home  and  school 
and  community,  of  pure  and  wholesome  associations 
and  companionships. 

The  home  is  the  first  mould  in  which  young  tiuid  life 
is  cast  and  in  a  large  degree  fixed  for  life.  The  per- 
vasive inllucnce  of  parental  example  and  spirit  infuses 


204.      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

itself  into  the  whole  atmosphere  of  the  home  and  shapes 
and  colours  the  character  of  the  children.  Many  a 
home  is  so  deeply  imbued  with  the  Christian  spirit  that 
the  children  grow  up  in  it  as  Christians  and  never  know 
any  other  life.  But  a  home  filled  with  an  irreligious 
spirit,  the  constant  drip  of  worldly  conversation  at  the 
table,  the  daily  talk  about  monej^-making  and  fashion 
and  pleasure,  occasional  sneers  or  scoffs  at  religion, 
an  irritable  temper  and  selfish  spirit,  will  inevitably 
mould  the  children  into  the  same  life. 

It  is  also  important  that  the  school  and  college  and 
university  should  be  at  least  friendly  to  religious  life. 
-n  While  the  introduction  of  positive  Christian  teaching  f 
;  is  generally  inexpedient  in  such  institutions,  we  have  it 
a  right  to  insist  in  our  Christian  civilization  that  they 
be  not  hostile  to  religion.  A  worldly  teacher  in  the 
day  school  and  an  agnostic  and  sneering  professor  in 
a  college  or  university  can  chill  and  blight  the  religious 
life  of  the  young  and  plant  in  their  minds  seeds  of 
scepticism  that  will  be  hard  to  dislodge  and  may  bear 
bitter  fruit.  But  a  teacher  who  is  sincerely  Christian 
in  spirit  and  conduct  will  silently  impart  the  same 
spirit  to  the  scholars  and  students.  An  American 
teacher  was  once  employed  in  a  secular  school  in  Japan 
under  a  contract  which  bound  him  not  to  say  a  word  on 
the  subject  of  Christianity.  The  obligation  was  scrupu- 
lously kept,  but  it  could  not  obscure  the  unconscious 
influence  of  a  Christian  spirit  which  wrought  in  him  a 
daily  transfiguration.  He  was  steadily  watched  as  the 
unconscious  virtue  went  out  of  him  like  a  divine  halo 
about  his  life,  and  the  young  men  under  his  teaching 
began  to  seek  the  source  of  that  speechless  but  all- 
conquering  form  of  life.  Forty  of  them,  unknown  to 
him,  met  in  a  grove  and  signed  a  covenant  to  abandon 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     205 

idolatry.  Twenty-five  of  them  entered  the  Kioto  Chris- 
tian training  school,  and  some  of  them  became  minis- 
ters of  the  gospel.  Not  a  word  was  spoken  on  the  sub- 
ject of  religion  by  this  Christian  teacher  to  his  students. 
He  simply  lived  the  Christian  life  before  them :  uncon- 
scious influence  did  the  work.  If  the  teachers  and  pro-' 
fessors  in  our  schools  and  colleges  were  of  this  spirit 
they  would  leaven  these  institutions  with  Christianity 
60  that  they  would  be  a  congenial  and  inspiring  en- 
vironment in  which  Christian  life  would  grow. 

The  whole  community,  broadening  out  into  the  na- 
tion and  the  world,  is  the  field  in  which  our  Christian 
life  must  be  lived.  It  is  vital,  then,  that  this  field  be 
as  favourable  as  possible  to  this  growth.  City  slums, 
saloons,  and  dens  of  vice  degrade  the  environment  into 
a  poisonous  soil  and  atmosphere.  Unhealthy  and 
tainted  amusements  and  social  diversions  infect  it. 
The  suggestive  and  sometimes  vile  pictures  on  the  bill- 
boards of  the  theatre  are  flaming  patches  on  the  streets 
that  enter  into  the  education  of  children  and  colour 
the  thought  of  the  community  or  city.  While  on  the 
way  to  the  day  school  or  the  Sunday  school  a  boy  or 
girl  may  see  an  unclean  sight  that  all  the  good  instruc- 
tion and  influence  of  the  school  cannot  obliterate  or 
counteract.  An  unprincipled  press  and  impure  litera- 
ture poison  social  morality,  and  corrupt  politics  pol- 
lute it.  The  whole  domestic,  sanitary,  industrial,  edu- 
cational, moral,  and  civic  life  of  the  community  is  the 
environment  in  which  our  Christian  life  must  grow, 
and  hence  it  should  be  cleansed  and  ui)lirted  through- 
out. Sanitation  promotes  sanctiflcation.  Ture  politics 
are  a  part  of  piety.  Clean  streets,  clean  homes,  clean 
eights,  clean  amusements,  clean  government, — all 
should  be  maintained  as  a  wholesome  atmosphere  in 


206      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

which  Christian  life  can  flourish.  The  child  should  be 
set  in  the  midst  of  the  community  and  city  and  state 
and  the  whole  environment  built  around  it  to  protect 
and  promote  its  life. 

A  mature  Christian  life  is  also  sensitive  to  its  sur- 
roundings and  should  guard  itself  against  evil  asso- 
ciations and  keep  itself  immersed  in  Christian  influ- 
ences. No  one  can  expect  to  grow  in  the  Christian 
life  who  thrusts  and  soaks  his  soul  in  the  muddy  and 
foul  stream  of  the  world  and  exposes  it  to  the  con- 
tagion of  the  devil.  That  evil  communications  corrupt 
good  manners,  that  like  begets  like,  that  both  good 
and  evil  are  infectious,  is  a  law  of  psychology  as  well 
as  of  Scripture,  and  the  Christian  life  can  grow  only 
in  accordance  with  this  condition.  "  Wherefore  come 
out  from  among  them,  and  be  ye  separate,  saith  the 
Lord,  and  touch  not  the  unclean  thing;  and  I  will  re- 
ceive you." 

HI.   Truth 

The  second  broad  means  of  the  Christian  life  is  truth. 
Every  living  thing  must  have  its  appropriate  food,  and 
truth  is  the  food  of  the  mind. 

I.  The  Nature  and  Function  of  Truth. — Deep  psy- 
chological and  philosophical  questions  and  difficulties 
start  up  at  the  mention  of  truth,  and  we  may  well  re- 
gret that  when  Pilate  asked  the  great  Teacher,  "  What 
is  truth?"  he  hurried  off  without  waiting  for  the  an- 
swer. But  psychologically  truth  is  the  agreement  of 
our  ideas  with  reality,  the  correspondence  of  our 
thoughts  with  things.  Truth  is  harmony  with  God. 
The  fundamental  importance  of  truth  consists  in  the 
fact  that  it  is  the  basis  of  our  relation  with  the  world, 
with  one  another,  and  with  God.    When  we  know  the 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     207 

truth  our  minds  match  reality  and  are  in  working  rela- 
tions with  it  as  cogwheels  fit  into  each  other  and  work 
together;  and  when  we  are  in  error  our  minds  are  out 
of  gear  with  reality  and  then  the  machinery  of  life 
works  badly  or  stops  altogether.  Untruth  of  any  kind 
is  misleading  and  deceptive,  puts  us  in  false  relations 
with  things  and  works  confusion,  cuts  away  the  com- 
mon ground  on  which  we  stand  to  do  business  with 
others  and  dissolves  all  the  bonds  of  hitman  intercourse 
and  fellowship.  And  most  deeply  and  fatally  of  all, 
untruth  throws  us  out  of  right  relations  with  God  and 
thereby  cuts  us  off  from  the  centre  and  source  of  all 
life. 

Truth  is  the  food  of  the  mind  in  that  it  is  the 
stimulus  and  sustenance  of  the  mental  faculties  that  *- 
wakes  them  into  action  and  causes  them  to  grow  and 
enables  them  to  seize  and  masticate  and  assimilate  all 
facts  and  relations.  The  human  mind  when  fed  on 
truth  develops  an  enormous  appetite  and  digestive 
capacity  and  will  eat  up  all  history  and  science  and 
literature,  the  world  and  sun  and  stars.  It  leaps  to 
the  frontiers  of  the  universe  and  leaves  no  space  or 
spirit  unvisited. 

Religious  truth  is  the  food  of  the  religious  life, 
awakening  the  soul  to  its  sense  of  God,  to  its  own  con- 
dition in  sin,  to  its  need  of  atonement  and  pardon,  and 
enlightening  and  strengthening  it  in  all  its  religious 
duties  and  blessings.  Truth  is  thus  tiie  primary  founda- 
tion of  the  Christian  life,  or  the  root  out  of  which  its 
fruit  and  beauty  and  blessedness  must  grow.  Dence 
the  iiiiMi(?nse  importance  and  emphasis  laid  on  the  truth 
in  the  llible  and  especially  in  the  teaching  of  Jesus. 
*'  I  am  the  Irntli."  "  And  this  is  life  eternal,  that  they 
might  know  thee  the  only  true  God,  and  Jesus  Christ, 


V 


208       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

whom  thou  hast  sent."    ^'  Sanctify  them  through  thy 
truth:  thy  word  is  truth." 

2.  The  Bible  a  Storehouse  of  Religious  Truth. — We 
have  already  seen  ^  that  the  Bible  is  a  mass  of  religious 
experience  embalming,  as  ancient  insect  life  in  amber, 
the  beliefs  and  fears  and  doubts,  the  trials  and  tragedies 
and  tears,  the  growing  visions  and  victories  of  the 
chosen  Hebrew  people  of  God,  as  the  light  of  revela- 
tion fell  upon  them  ever  more  clearly  until  it  culmi- 
nated in  the  rising  of  the  Sun  of  Righteousness  and 
Sunburst  of  God  in  Jesus.  "  Now  all  these  things  hap- 
pened unto  them  by  way  of  example;  and  they  were 
written  for  our  admonition,  upon  whom  the  ends  of  the 
ages  are  come."  "  For  whatsoever  things  were  written 
aforetime  were  written  for  our  learning,  that  through 
patience  and  through  comfort  of  the  scriptures  we 
might  have  hope."  "  But  these  are  written,  that  ye 
may  believe  that  Jesus  is  the  Christ,  the  Son  of  God; 
and  that  believing  ye  may  have  life  in  his  name."  The 
Bible  is  thus  not  simply  a  treasury  of  ancient  and 
obsolete  thought  and  life,  a  storehouse  of  curious  lore 
of  interest  only  to  the  antiquarian  or  archaeologist,  but 
it  is  fresh  bread  for  our  souls  and  a  perennial  foun- 
tain to  reinvigorate  and  vitalize  our  life. 

We  may  now  look  more  closely  into  the  psychology 
of  this  process.  Jesus  said,  "  The  words  that  I  have 
spoken  unto  you  are  spirit,  and  are  life."  How  can 
this  be? 

3.  The  Psychology  of  Words. — A  word  is  a  wonder- 
ful thing.  Though  it  is  the  very  oldest  human  invention 
and  one  that  has  lost  its  wonder  through  having  be- 
come so  familiar  and  apparently  simple  and  common-  j 
place,  yet  a  word  is  still  the  most  marvellous  of  all 

^Pp.  23-24,  and  also  90-93. 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     209 

human  achievements  and  is  incomparably  the  most 
powerful  instrument  of  our  life.  A  word  is  a  sound  or 
a  printed  sign :  this  is  its  outer  form  or  shell ;  but  its 
inner  meaning  goes  as  deep  as  the  human  soul  and  is 
as  mysterious  as  life  itself.  A  word  is  a  symbol  of 
thought.  It  is  a  bridge  that  connects  one  mind  with 
another,  or  a  window  through  which  one  mind  looks 
into  another.  It  is  the  telegraphic  or  telephonic  con- 
ductor that  discharges  the  contents  of  one  mind  into 
another.  It  leaps  from  the  lip  to  the  ear,  or  from  the 
I)rinted  page  to  the  eye,  and  closes  the  circuit  so  that 
thought  flashes  from  mind  to  mind.  A  word  is  a  winged 
idea  that  flies  from  one  mind  and  lights  in  another  and 
there  unloads  its  burden  of  meaning.  A  thought  is 
crystallized  into  a  word  in  one  mind,  and  the  crystal 
is  transported,  it  may  be,  across  continents  or  cen- 
turies, and  dropped  into  another  mind,  and  then  dis- 
solves back  into  its  original  idea,  so  that  the  two 
minds  are  saturated  with  the  same  thought,  or  they 
think  as  one.  Words  are  a  universal  sea  of  life  roll- 
ing around  us  and  sending  their  waves  up  on  the  shore 
line  of  each  individual  mind. 

And  thus  words  are  the  means  of  all  human  intelli- 
gence, communication,  action,  progress,  and  power. 
We  cannot  think,  except  in  the  most  rudimentary  de- 
gree, without  words.  ''To  think,''  Max  Muller  says, 
"  is  to  speak  low,  and  to  speak  is  to  think  aloud.'* 
The  enormous  chasm  between  the  savage  and  the  civil- 
ized man  is  measured  bv  the  three  or  four  hundred 
words  of  the  l*atagonian  compared  with  the  three  or 
four  hundred  thousand  words  of  the  Englishman. 
Words  transact  all  the  business  of  life  for  us.  They 
furnish  the  journalist  with  his  record  for  the  history 
of  a  day,  the  lawyer  with  his  brief,  the  physician  with 


210       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

his  prescription,  the  minister  with  his  sermon,  the 
scientist  with  the  instrument  for  his  investigations, 
the  metaphysician  with  the  terms  of  his  subtle  distinc- 
tions, the  statesman  with  his  laws  and  constitutions, 
the  orator  with  the  music  and  majesty  of  his  eloquence, 
the  novelist  with  the  colours  for  his  pictures  of  life, 
and  the  poet  with  the  airy  drapery  for  his  dreams. 
They  carry  on  our  conversation  and  weave  the  whole 
web  of  our  social  life.  They  buy  and  sell  our  goods, 
administer  our  government,  unite  us  at  the  marriage 
altar,  bury  our  dead,  conduct  our  worship,  roll  aloft 
our  psalms  and  prayers,  and  ^'  fleet  beyond  this  iron 
world  to  him  who  made  it." 

A  drop  of  ink  falling  on  a  thought  multiplies  it  a 
millionfold  and  makes  the  whole  world  think.  Printed 
words  embalm  all  the  centuries  and  transmit  to  us  the 
thoughts  and  deeds  of  the  innumerable  dead  and  resur- 
rect all  the  pageantry  of  the  past.  Words  are  fossil- 
ized history  and  life.  Libraries  are  the  fossilized 
brains  of  thinkers  that  are  gone.  The  thoughts  that 
soared  in  Shakespeare's  imagination  spread  their  wings 
in  our  minds,  and  the  ideas  that  glowed  in  Plato's  in- 
tellect burn  again  in  our  brains,  as  the  light  of  suns 
that  shone  millions  of  years  ago  glows  in  our  coal 
fires.  The  pomp  of  Assyria  is  lying  latent  in  our  , 
words,  and  all  "  the  glory  that  was  Greece  and  the  * 
grandeur  that  was  Rome."  ^'  A  dead  language  is  the 
graveyard  of  the  people  who  spoke  it  and  is  full  of 
their  monuments.  Their  swords  and  shields  are  in  it; 
their  faces  are  pictured  on  its  walls;  and  their  very 
voices  ring  through  its  corridors." 

Words  reflect  all  the  hues  of  our  many-coloured  spirit 
world.  They  are  transparent  with  clear  thought,  or 
misty  and  muddy  with  obscurity.    They  are  clean-cut, 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    211 

like  sharply  minted  coins,  with  precision  and  firmness, 
or  mutilated  and  muffled  with  vagueness  and  uncer- 
tainty. They  gleam  and  sparkle  with  cheerfulness  and 
wit,  or  are  heavy  and  dull  with  stupidity.  They  are 
icy  cold  with  haughtiness,  or  warm  with  sympathy. 
They  shoot  to  their  mark  as  poison-tipped  arrows, 
hissing  with  hate,  or  they  breathe  tender  and  ardent 
love.  They  speak  poniards  and  every  syllable  is  a 
stab,  or  they  drop  dew  and  honey.  They  are  pliant 
and  plastic,  many-tinted  and  iridescent,  to  express 
all  the  shapes  and  shades  of  thought  and  feeling.  They 
can  forge  ponderous  anchor  chains  of  thought,  or  spin 
the  most  delicate  silken  threads  of  sentiment.  They 
can  reproduce  the  myriad  aspects  and  activities  of  na- 
ture, recreating  the  dawn  and  the  sunset  and  all  the 
glory  of  the  constellations,  or  they  can  reconstruct  the 
more  wonderful  inner  world  of  the  human  mind.  They 
can  gather  up  all  the  energies  of  the  soul  and  strike 
them  in  one  terrific  blow.  In  his  reply  to  Hayne,  Web- 
ster simply  pointed  his  finger  and  launched  a  single 
sentence  at  his  opponent,  and  the  miserable  man  bowed 
his  head  and  doubled  up  in  his  seat  as  though  he  had 
been  struck  by  a  cannon  ball.  Words  have  in  them  the 
potency  of  all  life.  They  are  big  with  the  issues  of 
time  and  eternity.  They  have  kindled  wars  and  slain 
empires,  and  tbey  have  been  the  white-winged  mes- 
sengers of  f)eace.  A  single  word  has  saved  a  soul,  or 
broken  a  heart.  When  God  coininunicated  with  the 
World  of  his  lost  cbihlren  he  sent  the  glorious  Word, 
splendid  with  the  radiance  of  his  infinite  and  eternal 
purity  and  beauty,  in  whom  we  see  the  express  image 
of  his  person  and  the  briglitness  of  his  glory,  and 
through  whom  he  most  fully  reveals  himself  to  us  and 
we  hold  fellowship  with  him. 


/ 


212      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

We  have  drawn  out  at  some  length  this  psychology 
of  words  because  it  enables  us  to  understand  how  the 
words  of  Jesus  and  all  the  words  of  Scripture  "  are 
spirit  and  are  life."  These  words  spoken  by  prophets 
and  apostles  and  by  Jesus  himself  bring  to  us  their  very 
thoughts  and  recreate  them  in  our  minds  so  as  to  beget 
in  us  the  same  spiritual  states  and  experiences  they 
had.  The  laws  of  Moses  and  the  Psalms  of  David,  his 
penitence  and  tears,  aspiration  and  attainment,  the 
splendid  visions  of  Isaiah  and  the  lamentations  of 
Jeremiah,  the  proverbial  wisdom  of  Solomon  and  the 
sublime  poetry  of  Job  are  dropped  as  crystals  into  our 
minds  and  hearts  and  melt  back  into  substantially  the 
same  states  in  us,  and  thus  we  are  not  only  taught  by 
their  precepts  but  are  also  in  a  degree  filled  with  their 
life. 

The  whole  Old  Testament  is  thus  dissolved  in  us  and 
absorbed  into  our  spiritual  blood,  and  the  New  Testa- 
ment passes  through  the  same  process.  The  life  of 
Jesus  is  lived  over  again  for  us  from  his  birth  through 
to  his  death  and  resurrection  and  ascension.  Again 
we  witness  his  mighty  works  and  hear  his  very  words. 
We  are  present  at  Pentecost  and  on  Mars'  hill,  and 
w^e  hear  Peter  and  Paul  preach.  We  are  spectators 
of  a  momentous  conflict  and  epochal  victory  as  Chris- 
tianity struggles  free  from  the  swaddling  bands  of 
Judaism  and  steps  out  into  the  Gentile  world  and  lands 
on  the  shore  of  Europe.  We  go  with  Paul  to  Corinth 
and  Rome,  and  we  look  over  his  shoulder  and  read  his 
letters  as  he  writes  profound  theological  epistles  or 
drops  a  brief  note  to  a  friend.  Paul's  very  thoughts 
are  recreated  in  our  minds,  and  our  hearts  glow  with 
his  emotions.    John  infuses  his  mystic  gospel  into  cue 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    213 

spirits  and  unrolls  his  grand  apocalyptic  pictures  be- 
fore our  imagination. 

Words  thus  carry  us  back  into  the  scenes  and  say- 
ings of  the  Bible  and  reproduce  it  all  in  our  minds,  dis- 
solve it  in  our  souls.  It  makes  us  live  over  again  the 
lives  and  experiences  of  the  prophets  and  apostles  and 
fashions  us  into  their  likeness.  It  pours  their  blood 
into  our  veins.  It  crowds  our  minds  back  into  their 
consciousness,  even  into  the  human  consciousness  of 
Jesus.  We  need  often  to  recall  his  saying,  "  The  words 
that  I  have  spoken  you  are  spirit,  and  are  life."  Ab- 
sorbing and  assimilating  these  words  we  live  and  yet 
not  we,  but  Christ  liveth  in  us: 

This  is  how  the  truth  contained  in  the  Bible  feeds  us 
and  causes  us  to  grow  in  the  Christian  life.  This  is  the 
reason  such  constant  and  strenuous  emphasis  is  put  on 
the  Bible  by  the  church  and  by  the  Bible  itself.  This 
is  why  we  should  ever  read,  mark,  and  meditate  upon 
it  and  thus  dissolve  it  in  our  spiritual  blood  that  it 
may  reappear  in  the  strength  and  fruitfuluess,  the 
'^beauty  and  blessedness  of  our  Cliristian  life. 

4.  The  Comprehensive  and  Progressive  Nature  of 
Religious  Truth. — All  truth  is  religious.  Every  truth 
comes  from  (iod,  as  every  ray  of  daylight  and  of  gas- 
light and  electric  light  shoots  from  the  sun,  either 
straight  from  its  blazing  surface,  or  indirectly  through 
rellection  and  diffusion  or  through  ancient  coal  beds. 
And  therefore  every  fact  and  truth,  whether  of  science 
or  phih)S()phy,  history,  literature  or  art,  tells  us  some- 
thing about  God  and  will  enlarge  and  enrich  our  re- 
ligious life.  "  For  all  things  are  yours;  whether  Paul, 
or  Apolloa,  or  Cephas,  or  the  world,  or  death,  or  things 
present,  or  tilings  to  come;  all  are  yours."  And  wi»  may 
add,  whether  of  Newton  or  Darwin,  or  astronomy  or 


214}      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

geology,  or  evolution  or  higher  criticism :  all  the  truth 
discovered  by  these  thinkers  or  found  in  these  fields 
belongs  to  us  as  Christian  believers.  We  should  there- 
fore be  on  our  guard  against  narrowness  and  illiberal- 
ity  in  our  attitude  towards  human  knowledge,  but 
should  keep  the  windows  of  our  minds  open  to  every 
breeze  that  blows,  welcome  all  showers  of  truth,  gather 
harvests  from  all  fields,  and  feed  on  all  knowledge :  for 
whatever  widens  and  deepens  our  knowledge  by  so 
much  enlarges  and  enriches  our  Christian  life.  Of 
course  we  should  also  be  on  our  guard  against  error, 
against  "  profane  babblings  and  oppositions  of  knowl- 
edge falsely  so  called," -for  error  throws  life  out  of  ad- 
justment and  may  poison  and  blight  it.  We  are  to  '^  be- 
lieve not  every  spirit,  but  prove  the  spirits,  whether 
they  be  of  God,"  for  many  false  prophets  are  still  gone 
out  into  the  world.  We  should  ever  endeavour  to  culti- 
vate and  exercise  the  truth-loving  and  truth-seeking 
spirit  that  will  enable  us  to  distinguish  the  true  from 
the  false. 

Religious  truth  is  progressive  because  it  is  ever  study- 
ing and  gaining  a  deeper  appreciation  and  fuller  ap- 
propriation of  the  Bible,  and  because  it  is  ever  gath- 
ering into  itself  the  increasing  volume  of  progressive 
human  knowledge.  It  would  be  incredible  that  theo- 
logical and  religious  knowledge  should  stand  still  and 
stagnate  amidst  the  onward  rush  and  broadening 
stream  of  secular  knowledge,  and  such  a  fact  would  be 
fatal  to  religious  faith.  But  Jesus  himself  had  a  far 
different  outlook  and  promised  us  some  better  thing 
than  such  stagnation.  ^^  I  have  yet  many  things  to  say 
unto  you,  but  ye  cannot  bear  them  now.  Howbeit  when 
he,  the  Spirit  of  truth,  is  come,  he  shall  guide  you  into 
all  truth:  for  he  shall  not  speak  from  himself;  but 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    215 

what  things  soever  he  shall  hear,  tJicse  shall  he  speak : 
and  he  shall  declare  unto  jou  the  things  that  are  to 
come.  He  shall  glorify  me:  for  he  shall  take  of  mine, 
and  shall  declare  it  unto  you"  (John  16: 12-14). 

This  splendid  promise  has  been  in  course  of  pro- 
gressive fulfilment  through  all  the  Christian  centuries 
and  is  still  unfolding  its  treasures.  Such  a  work  as 
Fairbairn's  The  Place  of  Christ  in  Modern  Theology 
shows  with  magnificent  sweep  of  vision  and  wonderful 
wealth  of  learning  how  Christianitv  as  it  has  marched 
down  through  the  centuries  has  appropriated  and  as- 
similated successively  Greek  philosophy  and  Roman  law 
and  medieval  scholasticism  and  Reformation  theology 
and  modern  criticism,  and  thus,  like  a  rolling  snowball, 
has  accumulated  the  mighty  mass  and  meaning  of  its 
faith.  Our  Christian  knowledge  should  follow  the  same 
process  with  the  same  result.  We  should  not  be  afraid 
of  any  new  truth,  scientific  or  philosophical,  historical 
or  literary,  but  take  it  up  into  our  thought  and  life. 
Every  stone  that  the  scientist  or  critic  quarries  and 
cuts  should  be  taken  by  us  and  fitted  and  built  into  the 
temple  of  Christian  faith.  President  James  McCosh, 
of  Princeton  University,  did  this  when  he  early  adopted 
the  doctrine  of  evolution  and  built  it  into  theism,  and 
ex-President  Francis  L.  Patton,  of  the  same  institu- 
tion, has  done  similar  useful  work  in  his  popular  lec- 
tures on  "Christianity  and  the  ^roderii  Man"  in  the 
light  of  modern  knowledge.  Our  Christian  faith  will 
thus  not  be  in  constant  antagonism  with  our  growing 
knowledge,  irritating  and  alienating  educated  and  cul- 
tured believers  in  or  sympathizers  with  the  Christian 
rcli^^ion,  ami  it  will  not  grow  obsolete  and  be  left  be- 
hind, but  it  will  ever  keep  abreast  of  the  age  and  appeal 
to  and  hold  the  most  sincere  and  thoughtful  minds. 


216       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

Our  faith  must  ever  grow  out  of  the  past  and  in  this 
sense  it  is  ever  old,  but  it  should  also  embody  and 
express  itself  in  terms  of  the  present  and  in  this  sense 
it  should  be  ever  new.  Jesus  urged  us  to  bring  out 
of  our  treasures  things  old  and  new.  Old  and  new  are 
not  antagonistic  or  mutually  exclusive,  but  are  com- 
plementary and  harmonious.  It  is  the  old  sun  that 
shines  upon  us,  but  its  light  is  new  every  morning. 
The  clouds  are  very  old,  but  their  silver  nets  and 
golden  fringes  are  ever  resplendently  new.  The  old 
bushes  remain,  but  their  roses  are  fresh  every  June. 
We  still  wear  clothes  as  our  fathers  did,  but  we  cut 
them  after  our  own  fashion ;  we  eat  food,  but  the  dishes 
differ.  And  so  w^e  believe  in  the  old  faith  in  its  funda- 
mental facts  and  principles,  but  its  form  and  expression 
should  be  our  own.  Theology  is  not  a  dead  and  des- 
iccated science,  but  it  is  still  full  of  new  blood  and 
fresh  life  and  ever  develops  into  larger  growth  and 
fuller  vitality  and  finer  fruit.  Its  divine  principles  are 
eternal,  but  its  human  expression  should  ever  be 
adapted  to  the  present  time  and  needs,  and  its  voice 
should  be  a  living  voice.  We  should  not  cling  to  the 
old  simply  because  it  is  old,  or  reject  or  fear  or  sus- 
pect the  new  simply  because  it  is  new ;  neither  should 
we  disparage  the  old  or  rush  to  the  new  as  such;  but 
we  should  welcome  and  hold  to  both  only  because  and  in 
so  far  as  they  are  true.  We  shall  thus  ever  have  religious 
knowledge  that  is  both  conservative  and  progressive, 
taxing  all  the  world  in  its  interest  and  keeping  pace 
with  all  our  progress,  so  that  it  will  ever  express  liv- 
ing realities,  fitting  the  facts  of  life  and  appealing 
vitally  and  vividly  to  and  satisfying  our  religious 
needs. 

5.   The  Formation  of  Beliefs  and  Creeds. — The  re- 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    217 

ception  of  religious  truth  into  the  mind  and  heart  leads 
to  the  formation  of  religious  beliefs  and  creeds.  The 
whole  state  of  mind  of  the  Christian  convert  involves 
belief  in  the  religious  realities  of  God  and  Christ,  sin 
and  salvation,  prayer  and  obedience  and  righteousness. 
These  beliefs  at  first  are  traditional  and  nascent  and 
vague,  amorphous  and  unorganized.  They  may  be  the 
jelly-like  mental  protoplasm  which  is  to  be  developed 
into  definite  beliefs  and  the  bones  of  an  articulated 
creed.  The  mind  inevitably  begins  this  process  of  de- 
fining and  fixing  its  beliefs  and  arranging  them  in  a 
systematic  order.  Its  organizing  instinct  cannot  put 
up  with  a  disordered  world  in  the  field  of  religious 
thought  and  experience  any  more  than  it  can  in  the 
field  of  scientific  knowledge.  As  the  mind  gathers  truth 
from  study  and  experience  it  brings  the  new  materials 
into  relation  with  the  old,  and  the  two  forms  of  truth 
necessarily  modify  each  other  and  may  struggle  to- 
gether and  thus  grow  into  harmony.  Thought  grows 
wider  and  deeper  as  it  attracts  to  itself  and  absorbs 
into  itself  all  its  associations.  The  dim  vague  beliefs 
with  which  the  mind  starts  evolve  into  clearer  forms 
with  deeper  roots  and  wider  branches  and  more  intense 
convictions.  The  traditional  faith  of  the  child  becomes 
the  reasoned  belief  of  mature  life.  Individual  religious 
beliefs  thus  grow  through  the  years  as  they  are  fed 
and  exercised,  and  they  may  also  wither  through  starva- 
tion and  adverse  influences. 

These  individual  religious  beliefs  in  time  get  organ- 
ized into  creeds.  A  creed  is  an  ofllcial  and  social  state- 
ment of  religious  faith  as  contrasted  with  jtcrsHnal 
beliefs.  It  is  the  organizing  instinct  going  bi'yon<l  the 
individual  mind  into  tlie  social  mind.  A  creed  is  neces- 
sary as  the  common  ground  ou  which  men  agree  to 


218      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

stand  as  the  basis  of  religious  faith  and  action  and  thus 
corresponds  with  agreements  in  friendship,  contracts  in 
business,  platforms  in  politics,  constitutions  in  states, 
and  treaties  in  international  relations.  A  creed  is 
secreted  out  of  the  common  consciousness  of  a  church 
or  religious  body  and  forms  the  bones  and  skeleton  that 
give  shape  and  unity  and  efficiency  to  the  organiza- 
tion. It  is  the  psychological  foundation  and  frame- 
work of  the  building  that  houses  the  thought  and  life 
of  the  church.  Every  church  of  necessity  has  a  creed, 
whether  or  not  it  has  been  formallv  written  and 
adopted,  and  the  closeness  with  which  the  creed  fits  the 
consciousness  of  the  church,  or  the  sincerity  and  inten- 
sity with  which  it  is  believed  and  experienced,  will 
determine  its  efiSciency  and  fruitfulness.  For  this  rea- 
son most  churches  find  it  necessary  from  time  to  time 
to  revise  their  creeds  in  order  to  make  them  fit  more 
snugly  and  work  more  efficiently. 

6.  Doctrinal  Preaching. — This  leads  to  the  subject 
of  doctrinal  preaching.  Should  we  preach  doctrines? 
Of  course  we  should  and  must.  Doctrine  is  the  neces- 
sary foundation  on  which  duty  and  deed  are  built,  or 
the  root  out  of  which  they  spring  as  flower  and  fruit. 
Every  rational  deed  issues  from  a  thought,  thought 
when  it  becomes  critical  and  constructive  shapes  itself 
into  a  doctrine,  and  doctrine  builds  a  system  of  truth. 
Thus  every  one  is  a  psychologist  and  theologian  and 
philosopher,  though  he  may  not  know  it  and,  like  the 
Frenchman  in  the  play  who  was  surprised  to  find  that 
he  had  been  speaking  prose  all  his  life,  he  may  be  sur- 
prised to  find  it  out.  Christian  preaching  and  practice 
must  root  itself  in  doctrine  and  cannot  be  clearer  and 
stronger  than  the  doctrine  out  of  which  it  grows.  Yet 
''' doctrinal  preaching"  is  not  a  popular  programme 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     219 

and  is  supposed  to  be  somewhat  repellent.  There  is  no 
avoiding  it,  however;  the  very  denial  of  doctrine  is  it- 
self a  doctrine,  and  the  rankest  sensationalist,  loudly 
denouncing  doctrine,  is  yet  himself  preaching  it,  though 
it  may  be  of  a  very  poor  kind. 

One  danger  with  our  doctrines  is  that  they  may  fall 
out  of  touch  with  our  day,  if  not  in  substance  and 
spirit,  then  in  form  and  expression.  They  necessarily 
change  with  the  intellectual,  social,  and  spiritual  cli- 
mate of  their  age,  a  change  that  may  be  slow  and  un- 
perceived  in  a  short  time,  but  is  sure  and  obvious  in 
the  long  run.  When  one  reads  a  sermon  fifty  or  a 
hundred  years  old  he  is  at  once  aware  of  a  style  and 
tone  different  from  the  preaching  of  to-day.  Such 
change  is  evidence  of  the  continuous  growth  and  adapt- 
ability of  Christian  truth  to  varying  and  advancing 
human  needs;  a  sign,  not  of  decay,  but  of  vigorous  and 
fruitful  life.  Christianity  is  permanent  in  its  essential 
nature,  but  its  interpretation  and  application  are  pro- 
gressive. Yet  this  doctrinal  expression  may  change  too 
slowly  and  thus  lag  behind  the  times  and  grow  obso- 
lete. If  doctrines  are  preached  in  the  phrases  of  former 
times  they  will  strike  the  present  generation  as  strange 
and  unattractive:  whereas  if  thev  are  set  forth  in  the 
life  and  language  of  to-day  they  may  find  a  welcome 
reception. 

Doctrine  should  also  be  presented,  not  as  a  dry  and 
rattling  skeleton,  but  clothed  in  flesh  and  blood  and 
pulsing  warm  with  life.  Rones  are  useful  members  of 
the  anatomy,  but  in  the  higher  animals  they  are  buried 
in  the  flesh.  Doctrine  should  api>eal  directly  to  ex- 
perience. It  should  be  woven  of  the  same  threads 
as  the  general  web  (»f  human  life,  and  illustrations  of 
it  should  be  drawn  direct  from  daily  happenings.    This 


220      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

will  relieve  it  of  its  foreign  and  uninteresting  air  and 
bring  it  home  to  every  one's  business  and  bosom.  The 
gospel  of  Christ  fills  a  deep  and  permanent  want  in  the 
universal  human  heart,  and  when  its  doctrines  are 
thus  presented  they  prove  attractive  and  popular,  satis- 
fying and  successful,  and  the  people  still  hear  it,  as 
they  did  when  it  fell  from  the  lips  of  Jesus  himself, 
gladly.^ 

7.  The  Place  of  Doubt  in  Religious  Belief. — Doubt 
is  uncertain  belief.  It  is  the  borderland  between  knowl- 
edge and  ignorance,  the  twilight  between  light  and 
darkness.  It  is  therefore  a  mixed  state  of  mind  and 
varies  in  degree  from  almost  certain  knowledge  to  the 
faintest  belief  or  hope.  It  may  be  the  morning  twi- 
light in  which  an  uncertain  truth  or  hope  or  specula- 
tion is  growing  into  positive  knowledge,  or  the  evening 
twilight  in  which  an  accepted  truth  or  theory  is  wither- 
ing away. 

Doubt  attends  all  our  knowledge  and  is  inherent  in 
the  constitution  of  the  human  intellect.  It  is  due  to 
our  finite  faculties,  and  we  can  no  more  escape  it 
than  we  can  slip  out  of  our  own  skin  or  elude  the  laws 
of  our  own  mind.  However  much  we  may  know  and 
however  positive  and  final  may  be  our  knowledge,  at 
the  point  or  margin  where  what  we  do  know  begins  to 
impinge  on  its  boundary  and  fade  out  into  the  twilight 
of  what  we  do  not  know,  there  doubt  necessarilv  be- 
gins.  Only  an  omniscient  mind  can  be  free  from  doubt, 
or  else  a  mind  that  does  not  think  at  all.  The  thinker 
can  no  more  escape  from  his  doubts  than  he  can  run 
away  from  his  own  shadow,  and  the  more  he  thinks 
the  more  he  will  doubt;  for  the  more  he  knows  the 

•4 

more  he  will  see  that  he  does  not  know.     The  wider 

^  See  the  author's  The  Basal  Beliefs  of  Christianity ,  Preface. 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     221 

is  our  circle  of  light  the  vaster  is  the  surrounding  circle 
of  darkness,  and  our  ignorance  is  ever  outrunning  our 
knowledge.  Doubt  is  thus  a  permanent  element  in  our 
life  and  grows  with  our  growth. 

And  yet  doubt  does  not  interfere  with  our  practical 
living.  All  of  our  knowledge  is  more  or  less  infected 
or  margined  with  doubt,  and  yet  we  often  do  not  hesi- 
tate to  act  on  an  imperfect  and  even  doubtful  belief. 
We  cannot  be  absolutely  sure  of  anything  we  are  about 
to  do,  and  yet  we  act.  We  do  business  with  others 
without  knowing  much  about  them,  and  we  start  on  a 
journey  without  knowing  whether  or  not  we  shall  reach 
our  destination.  If  we  demanded  certain  knowledge 
before  we  acted,  we  could  not  do  a  single  thing,  not 
even  take  a  step  or  draw  a  breath.  Probability  is  the 
guide  of  life,  the  necessary  foundation  on  which  we 
build  all  our  conduct  in  society,  business,  science,  and 
religion. 

Not  only  is  doubt  not  a  hindrance  to  our  living,  but 
it  is  a  highly  useful  factor  in  our  knowledge  and  life. 
Doubt  is  the  great  destroyer  of  error,  the  scythe  that 
mows  down  the  weeds  of  baleful  beliefs,  the  scavenger 
that  removes  the  corpses  of  false  hopes  and  dead  faiths. 
Doubt  of  demons  and  ghosts  has  cleared  our  world 
of  terror  and  has  given  us  a  sense  of  security  and 
peace.  When  doubt  attacked  the  Ptolemaic  astionomy 
it  tore  down  the  low-roofed  Imt  of  lunivens  that  cabii^'d 
and  confined  the  hiinian  race,  dwarliiig  all  its  tlioii^^ht, 
and  thereby  cleared  the  way  for  the  grand  lieavtMis  that 
have  given  us  an  infinitely  larger  universe  and  enor- 
mously expanded  our  vision  and  all  our  views. 

Doubt  is  not  only  a  great  destructionist,  but  is  also 
a  great  constructionist.  Its  negative  work  prepares  the 
way  for  i)ositive  advance.     The  withering  of  a  great 


"l^ 


222      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

error  through  doubt  is  often  at  the  same  time  the 
budding  of  a  great  truth.  While  the  old  heavens  were 
coming  down  the  new  heavens  were  going  up  on  an 
infinitely  larger  scale.  Doubt  is  a  pioneer  that  goes 
beyond  our  certain  knowledge  to  explore  the  land  of 
our  ignorance  and  open  up  new  worlds.  Like  Colum- 
bus, it  sets  out  on  an  unknown  sea  and  its  "  purpose 
holds  to  sail  beyond  the  sunset,  and  the  baths  of  all 
the  western  stars."  A  theory  is  a  searchlight  of  the 
mind  thrown  forward  into  the  twilight  and  night  of 
our  ignorance;  it  is  the  mind  feeling  into  the  unknown. 
Our  scientific  investigation  is  largely  an  effort  to  clear 
up  our  doubts  and  reach  greater  lucidity  and  certainty. 
Much  of  our  mental  activity  in  study,  business,  politics, 
and  social  life  is  solving  doubts.  So  doubt  is  a  root 
of  our  mental  growth  and  the  advance  agent  of  our 
intellectual  expansion  and  power,  the  evening  of  error 
and  the  dawn  of  new  truth. 

The  question  of  the  moral  quality  of  doubt  now  con- 
fronts us.  It  is  often  thought  of  as  a  guilty  thing. 
Doubt  has  been  closely  connected  with  damnation,  the 
first  slip  and  step  down  the  broad  road.  But  the 
moral  quality  of  doubt  depends  on  its  motive  and  end. 
In  the  scientific  field  doubt  may  be  purely  intellectual 
and  almost  devoid  of  any  moral  quality,  although  doubt 
can  hardly  ever  be  wholly  free  from  some  slight  tinc- 
ture of  such  spirit.  But  in  fields  involving  our  per- 
sonal interests  and  desires  and  duties,  such  as  busi- 
ness and  politics,  profit  and  pleasure,  character  and 
conduct,  these  factors  are  a  strong  and  perhaps  a 
dominant  influence  in  determining  our  doubts.  If  a 
man  wants  to  carry  through  a  dishonest  business  trans- 
action for  the  sake  of  its  profit,  it  is  easy  for  him  to 
doubt  whether  it  is  dishonest  and  then  to  believe  it  is 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    223 

right.  His  doubt  is  born  of  an  evil  desire  and  is  an 
illegitimate  and  depraved  child.  If  one  does  not  want 
to  believe  in  God,  his  desire  may  breed  an  agnostic 
doubt  and  feed  it  into  lusty  strength.  Our  doubts,  then, 
like  our  beliefs,  are  largely  subject  to  our  interests,  de- 
sires, and  wills,  and  we  can  make  them  grow  or  cause 
them  to  wither  and  die  at  the  subtle  bidding  of  our 
hearts. 

We  are  not,  then,  to  be  surprised  at  the  fact  of  re- 
ligious doubt.  The  nature  of  all  knowledge  and  espe- 
cially of  religious  knowledge  makes  doubt  inherent  in 
the  subject  so  that  it  cannot  be  escaped.  And  let  us 
not  think  that  religious  doubt  is  necessarily  dishonest 
and  guilty.  It  may  be  profoundly  sincere  and  trans- 
parently honest.  \  Many  of  the  most  deeply  religious 
and  most  honest  souls  have  been  perplexed  with  the 
sorest  doubts.  Prophets  and  apostles  had  their  doubts, 
though  they  do  not  often  let  us  see  them;  and  did  not 
a  fleeting  shadow  of  doubt  fall  on  the  mind  of  Jesus 
when  for  a  moment  he  prayed  that  the  cup  of  the  cross 
might  pass  from  him?  Let  not  us  ministers  be  alarmed 
or  surprised  when  we  find  ourselves  troubled  with 
doubt.  People  usually  think  that  ministers  have  creeds 
that  fit  their  minds  snugly,  like  a  suit  without  seam  or 
wrinkle,  so  as  to  give  them  undisturbed  comfort,  but 
this  is  because  thoy  do  not  see  into  the  ministerial 
mind.     The  minister  mav  liave  more  doubts  than  others 

ft- 

because  he  knows  more  about  the  diiliculties  of  faith; 
he  has  a  broader  field  of  knowledge  that  borders  on 
still  broader  margins  of  mystery. 

The  most  l)eautiful  instance  on  record  of  how  to  deal 
with  religious  doubt  is  (>hrist's  treatment  of  John 
the  Baptist's  doubt  of  Jesus  as  the  Messiah.  Joim  had 
been  in  prison  until  he  fell  into  a  prison  mood.    Hope 


224<       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

does  not  burn  brightly  there,  and  in  that  damp  and 
dusky  place  the  world  looked  dark  to  John  and  the 
checkered  shadows  on  the  stone  walls  turned  to 
ghostly  spectres.  At  length  John  began  to  doubt 
whether  Jesus  were  the  Messiah,  and  he  sent  a  com- 
mittee to  interview  him  and  put  the  question  to  him. 
What  did  Jesus  say?  ^^  Go  your  way,  and  tell  John 
what  things  ye  have  seen  and  heard."  This  is  a  remark- 
able answer.  It  contains  no  harsh  judgment  upon 
John,  or  slightest  trace  of  impatience  with  him  for  his 
doubt.  *  Go  and  tell  John  the  facts,'  said  Jesus.  He 
did  not  send  word  to  John  that  his  doubts  were  dam- 
nable and  that  he  should  stop  thinking  and  hush  his 
doubts  by  stifling  them  to  death.  This  has  been  a  fa-. 
vourite  way  of  dealing  with  doubt  in  some  quarters. 
This  spirit  bids  us  beware  of  these  troublesome  ques- 
tions, distrust  our  reasoning  powers,  and  stop  thinking. 
But  this  is  not  the  spirit  of  the  Bible.  Jesus  did  not 
stop  John's  thinking,  and  mental  death  is  not  the  cure 
for  our  doubt. 

^Neither  did  Jesus  try  to  do  John's  thinking  for  him. 
John's  question  was,  "  Art  thou  he  that  cometh,  or  look 
we  for  another?"  Why  did  not  Jesus  answer  with  a 
plain  and  positive  "Yes"?  Why  did  he  not  relieve 
John  of  all  responsibility  and  perplexity  in  settling  this 
question  by  settling  it  for  him?  Because  this  is  not 
Christ's  way  and  it  is  not  God's  way.  It  is  a  way  that 
presents  plausible  pleas  and  attractions.  It  seems 
so  plain  and  easy  and  conclusive,  and  it  has  often  been 
tried.  The  Pope  wants  to  do  all  our  religious  thinking 
for  us,  and  many  a  Protestant  theologian  is  willing  to 
undertake  the  same  business.  Why  not  have  the  church 
fix  and  finish  our  creed  down  to  the  last  letter,  and 
then  simply  accept  it  on  its  dogmatic  authority?    Be- 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     225 

cause  our  minds  will  not  let  us  and  God  does  not  want 
us  to  do  this.  Christianity  is  not  a  superstition,  but  a 
rational  religion.  God  never  settles  our  beliefs  for  us 
dogmatically,  but  he  gives  reasons  for  his  revelations 
and  bids  us  prove  them  for  ourselves.  ^'  Come  now, 
and  let  us  reason  together,"  is  his  invitation  and  bid- 
ding. So,  on  this  occasion,  Jesus  said  in  effect  to 
John's  disciples:  ^  Go  and  give  John  these  additional 
facts  and  let  him  draw  his  own  conclusion;  I  shall 
not  answer  his  question  for  him  categorically,  but  I 
shall  suggest  to  him  a  line  (>f  thought  and  let  him  work 
it  out  for  himself.'  H^.^d  not  tell  John  to  do  less 
thinking,  but  to  do  more  thinking.  Jesus  was  not 
afraid  of  doubts  and  reasoning  in  his  disciples:  he  only 
wanted  them  to  reason  enough  and  to  reason  their 
way  through  to  right  conclusions. 

And  so  the  way  out  of  our  doubts  is  not  to  think 
less  until  we  relapse  into  mental  stagnation  and  death, 
but  it  is  to  think  more  until  we  work  our  way  for- 
ward into  clearer  light  and  larger  truth.  John  took  his 
doubts  to  Jesus.  He  did  not  brood  over  them  in  his 
despondency  until  he  became  a  confirmed  pessimist  and 
agnostic,  but  he  went  straight  to  Jesus,  and  then  he 
got  more  light  and  died  in  triumphant  faith.  Let  us 
go  to  Christ  in  our  doubt  and  perplexity  and  consider 
the  facts  he  gives  us,  and  a  fuller  intimacy  with  him 
will  enable  us  to  understand  him  better,  and  then  we 
shall  find  our  way  through  the  twilight  and  darkness 
of  doubt  into  the  light  of  faith. 

And  let  us  exercise  the  same  patience  and  syiiipalhy 
with  those  in  doubt  that  Jesus  did  with  John.  The  cur- 
rents of  modern  thouglit  are  fiowing  through  tlie  pews 
of  the  church  so  tiiat  there  are  more  doubting  hearers 
in  them  than  the  preacher  in  the  pulpit  may  know  or 


226      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

suspect.  How  to  deal  with  the  doubt  of  our  day  is  one 
of  the  preacher's  chief  problems  and  responsibilities 
and  is  one  of  the  highest  tests  of  his  wisdom.  He 
needs  to  study  and  understand  the  nature  and  causes 
of  this  doubt  and  then  face  it  frankly  and  fairly.  In 
some  instances  it  springs  out  of  the  physical  condi- 
tion of  the  doubter  and  is  part  of  his  general  mood  of 
depression,  as  was  the  case  with  John  the  Baptist ;  in 
other  instances  it  may  be  due  to  unspiritual  or  sinful 
living,  and  in  still  others  to  entanglement  in  the  scep- 
tical and  agnostic  thinking  and  theories  of  the  day. 
The  minister  needs  to  know  how  to  diagnose  these  vari- 
ous conditions  and  forms  of  doubt  and  to  apply  the 
appropriate  remedy.  In  general  the  preacher  needs  to 
beware  of  treating  doubt  with  dogmatic  condemnation 
and  harshness,  branding  it  with  a  burning  mark  of 
guilt,  but  he  should  deal  with  it  patiently  and  sym- 
pathetically as  an  honest  state  of  mind.  In  too  many 
instances  the  doubter  is  driven  deeper  into  his  doubt 
by  unintelligent  or  unsympathetic  or  unfair  treat- 
ment from  the  pulpit.  Some  of  our  best  informed  and 
most  thoughtful  hearers  are  honestly  wrestling  with 
doubt  and  they  cannot  be  browbeaten  out  of  it  and 
forced  into  faith  by  dogmatism,  much  less  by  blatant 
ignorance  of  modern  thought.  What  the  doubting  ques- 
tioner often  needs  is  what  Jesus  sent  to  John:  more 
facts  and  light  that  will  give  him  a  larger  view  and 
lead  him  into  closer  fellowship  with  Christ.  Espe- 
cially should  the  doubter  be  induced  to  obey  Christ 
as  far  as  his  faith  goes,  and  such  obedience  is  often 
a  solvent  of  doubt.  As  one  walks  the  path  of  service 
his  doubts  often  disappear  as  mere  shadows  in  his  own 
mind,  and  he  emerges  into  the  light. 
It  is  also  important  that  the  pastor  should  know 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    227 

how  to  deal  with  doubt  in  private  interviews.  The 
long  personal  conference  Jesus  held  with  Nicodemus, 
who  came  to  him  through  the  shadows  of  the  night  with 
deeper  shadows  in  his  soul,  is  a  beautiful  instance 
of  how  to  deal  with  doubt  in  private.  Nicodemus  was 
troubled  about  the  mysteries  of  religion,  and  Jesus  did 
not  deny  these  mysteries,  but  in  great  patience  he 
explained  to  his  night  visitor  the  elusive  nature  of  the 
new  birth  and  smoothed  the  way  for  the  influential 
rabbi  and  secret  searcher  after  truth  to  become  an  open 
disciple.  The  sympathetic  pastor  is  at  times  consulted 
by  troubled  believers  and  even  by  unbelievers,  and  he 
should  endeavour  to  win  their  confidence  and  meet 
them  on  their  own  ground  and  lead  them  into  truth  and 
light. 

•  Doubt,  then,  is  a  general  fact  inherent  in  our  thought 
'and  not  to  be  escaped  in  our  Christian  faith.  It  may 
be  sincere  and  honest  and  should  be  dealt  with,  not  by 
condemnation  and  suppression,  but  by  intelligent  and 
sympathetic  treatment.  Doubt  is  a  sign  of  thought  and 
Ts  bettor  than  unthinking  stagnation,  but  it  is  weak- 
ness and  not  strength.  It  may  be  good  as  a  tem];)orary 
state  of  mind  and  step  towards  clearer  light,  but  not 
as  a  finality:  positive  belief  is  the  rightful  state  of  the 
mind.  And  when  doubt  is  fairly  faced  and  fought 
through  it  often  leads  to  a  stronger  triumphant  faith. 
Tonnvson  has  finelv  analvzed  and  expressed  the  t)sv- 
ch()h)gy  of  honest  doubt  as  experienced  by  his  friend, 
Arthur  H.  Hallani,  in  the  familiar  stanzas  in  "  In 
Memoriaiii  " : 

Pcrploxt  in  faith,  but  pure  in  dccda, 

At  last  he  beat  hin  music  out. 

There  lives  more  faith  in  honest  doubt, 
Believe  me,  than  in  half  the  crecdB. 


228      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

He  fought  his  doubts  and  gather'd  strength, 
He  would  not  make  his  judgment  blind, 
He  faced  the  spectres  of  the  mind 

And  laid  them:  thus  he  came  at  length 


To  find  a  stronger  faith  his  own; 
And  Power  was  in  him  in  the  night, 
Which  makes  the  darkness  and  the  light. 

And  dwells  not  in  the  light  alone. 


And  Browning  has  expressed  the  same  thought  in 
"  Bishop  Blougram's  Apology  '^ : 

With  me,  faith  means  perpetual  unbelief 
Kept  quiet  like  the  snake  'neath  Michael's  foot 
Who  stands  calm  just  because  he  feels  it  writhe. 

•  •••••  9 

Say  I — let  doubt  occasion  still  more  faith! 

"  And  blessed  is  he,  whosoever  shall  find  none  occa- 
sion of  stumbling  in  me."  With  these  words  Jesus 
closed  his  answer  to  John.  They  imply  that  we  must 
exercise  some  patience  with  Christ,  that  we  cannot 
fully  understand  him,  that  after  we  have  done  our  pro- 
foundest  and  most  sympathetic  thinking  in  relation  to 
him  there  will  still  be  an  unexplained  remainder  that 
we  cannot  clear  up,  that  he  is  bordered  with  infinitude 
that  must  ever  transcend  and  try  our  faith.  All  our 
religious  thinking  must  ever  be  margined  and  mingled 
with  mystery.  >.  It  would  be  a  shallow  religion  that  we 
could  sound  to  the  bottom ;  it  would  be  a  poor  and 
pitiful  God  that  we  could  see  through.  Some  things 
relating  to  Christ  we  must  take  by  faith ;  some  of  God's 
ways  may  ever  sorely  perplex  and  pain  us.    But  blessed 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    229 

is  he  that  is  not  offended  on  this  account,  but  rather 
trusts  and  worshijjs  him  the  more.^ 

Let  knowledge  grow  from  more  to  more, 
But  more  of  reverence  in  us  dwell; 
That  mind  and  soul,  according  well. 

May  make  one  music  as  before. 

But  vaster. 


8.  Meditation. — Truth  needs  to  be  digested  and  as- 
similated, and  this  is  largely  effected  through  medita- 
tion, which  is  a  fruitful  means  of  the  Christian  life. 
Meditation  is  fixing  the  mind  on  a  subject  and  quietly 
thinking  it  over,  looking  at  it  from  every  side  and 
working  into  its  nature  and  depths  until  we  see  it  in 
all  lights  and  relations.  It  is  to  be  discriminated  from 
mere  passivity  of  mind  and  reverie  or  day-dreaming. 
We  may  relax  our  thoughts  and  let  them  roam  or  drift 
or  fly  at  will,  blown  about  by  every  wind  of  chance 
thought  or  feeling  or  caprice;  or  we  may  set  them  to 
building  air  castles  that  are  more  gorgeous  but  less 
substantial  than  clouds  in  the  sky.  Such  a  state  of 
mind,  while  sometimes  it  may  be  indulged  in  as  a  mere 
relaxation,  yet  as  a  habit  is  useless  and  mentally  weak- 
ening. It  lures  the  mind  away  from  the  sober  realities  of 
life  and  absorbs  it  in  imaginary  diversion  that  ends  in 
reaction  and  discontent.  As  opposed  to  this  idle  drift- 
ing and  empty  dreaming,  meditation  is  an  active  and 
may  l)e  an  intense  exercise  of  the  mind  by  wliirh  it  con- 
centrates its  attention  and  iinilti]>lics  its  associations. 

It  is  only  by  this  process  that  we  can  know  a  subject 

*  For  a  fuller  exposition  of  "  How  Jchus  Dt'ult  with  .lolin's 
Douht,"  8<'e  the  author's  Scenca  and  Sdyinga  in  the  Life  of 
Chriat,  Chapter  XX. 


230      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

in  its  principles  and  digest  and  assimilate  it  into  our 
own  thought.  The  raw  materials  of  knowledge  pour 
into  our  minds  through  our  senses ;  but  these  materials 
can  be  shaped  into  our  own  knowledge  only  as  we  lay 
hold  of  them  by  our  mental  faculties  and  mould  them 
into  form  and  meaning.  As  long  as  our  knowledge  is 
the  mere  repetition  and  memory  of  what  others  have 
taught  us,  we  do  not  know  anything  by  our  own  percep- 
tion and  grasp  of  understanding.  One  may  commit  to 
memory  a  proposition  in  geometry  and  not  have  a  glim- 
mer of  an  idea  of  what  it  means;  only  as  one  compre- 
hends the  mathematical  principles  involved  does  he  per- 
ceive the  truth  and  beauty  of  the  proposition. 

Meditation  goes  deeper  than  this  perception  of  truth 
and  penetrates  into  its  roots  and  relations  by  the 
process  of  mental  association.  Any  idea  or  object  in 
the  mind  is  a  growing  thing  that  begins  to  sink  rootlets 
and  throw  out  branches  and  filaments  through  the 
mind  and  thus  relates  itself  to  the  entire  contents  of 
consciousness.  One  thought  suggests  another,  as  we 
have  already  seen,  until  the  whole  world  of  the  thinker 
is  organized  around  the  original  fact  or  idea.  All  the 
scattered  rays  of  knowledge  and  experience  are  focused 
in  this  centre  until  it  blazes  with  light  and  heat.  Then 
the  subject  is  seen  and  felt  in  all  its  nature  and  rela- 
tions and  it  masters  and  moves  the  will. 

The  quiet  reflection  of  meditation  is  especially  neces- 
sary and  fruitful  in  considering  our  own  character  and 
conduct,  aims  and  motives.  Out  in  the  world  its  glare 
and  excitement,  competition  and  temptation,  are  apt  to 
mislead  and  confuse  our  judgment  and  pervert  our 
ethical  vision.  Our  senses  and  self-interest  and  pas- 
sions sway  us  and  may  sweep  conscience  off  its  throne. 
Meditation  withdraws  us  from  this  outer  excitement 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     231 

into  quietness  where  we  can  calmlj  consider  our  course, 
and  conscience  can  be  heard.  Often  we  are  impetuous 
and  rash  and  wrong  in  conduct,  and  then  in  sober 
reflection  we  realize  our  fault  and  resolve  to  restrain 
our  infirmity  and  strengthen  ourselves  against  its  recur- 
rence, thus  growing  deeper  roots  of  wisdom  and  self- 
control. 

Meditation  is  the  necessary  condition  of  self- 
acquaintance.  We  are  in  danger  of  losing  touch  with 
ourselves  in  the  hurry  and  confusion  of  the  world. 
Often  we  need  to  retire  into  solitude  and  put  a  finger 
on  our  pulse  and  look  ourselves  in  the  face  and  see 
what  manner  of  persons  we  are.  By  close  scrutiny  and 
honest  examination  we  should  try  our  spirits,  test 
our  motives,  and  endeavour  to  see  ourselves  as  we  really 
are. 

By  all  means  use  sometimes  to  be  alone. 

Salute  thyself;  see  what  thy  soul  doth  wear. 
Dare  to  look  in  thy  chest,  for  'tis  thine  own, 

And  tumble  up  and  down  what  thou  find'st  there. 

— George  IIerbebt. 

Rich  inner  resources  are  a  fruit  of  meditation.  This 
exercise  gradually  stores  the  mind  with  treasures  of 
knowledge  and  beauty,  ideals  and  aspirations  that 
are  the  strength  and  comfort  of  the  soul.  Some  peo- 
ple are  so  empty  that  they  have  no  power  of  self- 
entertainment.  Left  alone,  they  are  instantly  discon- 
tented and  miserable.  They  have  not  read  anything 
or  done  anything  that  is  worth  thinking  about,  (^)thor 
minds  are  so  amply  stored  with  mental  and  spiritual 
treasures  that  they  are  their  own  kingilom  and  may 
In'  richer  than  Crcrsus  in  inniT  wealth.  Suih  peo|)le 
never  can  be  left  alone  in  emi)ty  discontent,  for  they 


232      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

are  their  own  best  company.  This  was  the  experience 
of  the  Psalmist :  "  My  soul  shall  be  satisfied  as  with 
marrow  and  fatness;  and  my  mouth  shall  praise  thee 
with  joyful  lips:  when  I  remember  thee  upon  my  bed, 
and  meditate  on  thee  in  the  night  watches." 

Meditation  is  necessary  to  the  mastery  of  life.  We 
must  live  our  lives  inwardly  in  thought  before  we  can 
live  them  outwardly  in  action.  The  architect  thinks 
his  building  through  from  foundation  to  finish,  he  puts 
it  all  up  in  his  brain  before  he  erects  it  in  steel  and 
stone;  and  such  inner  preparation  must  always  pre- 
cede outer  execution.  The  outer  action  may  be  brief 
and  appear  sudden,  but  the  inner  preparation  was 
long  and  patient.  The  harvest  may  be  gathered  in  an. 
hour,  but  through  how  many  weeks  and  months  did  the 
wheat  silently  drink  in  the  showers  and  sunshine  be- 
fore it  ripened  into  golden  grain.  The  meteor  burns 
itself  out  in  a  moment,  but  through  how  many  millions 
of  invisible  miles  did  it  gather  momentum  ior  that 
brief  flash  of  splendour.  A  great  surgeon  said  that  if 
he  had  only  three  minutes  for  a  critical  operation,  he 
would  take  two  to  get  readv.  Jesus  took  thirtv  vears 
of  silent  preparation  for  just  three  years  of  work. 
If  we  would  be  architects  and  artists  in  living  we 
must  take  time  and  get  ready,  grow  deep  roots  of  wis- 
dom and  strength  in  meditation,  and  then  we  may 
throw  our  branches  out  and  bear  ripened  fruit  in  the 
world. 

Meditation  reaches  its  highest  usefulness  and  finest 
fruitage  in  the  spiritual  life.  The  things  of  the  spirit 
are  best  discerned  by  the  spirit  in  its  own  inner  vision 
and  reflection.  The  Bible  blossoms  out  into  a  new 
book  in  the  quiet  of  meditation.  The  most  familiar 
passage  may  flash  and  flame  out  in  unexpected  light 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     233 

and  heat  as  we  gaze  upon  it  in  earnest  thought.  The 
Psalmist  understood  this  psychology  when  he  prayed, 
"  Open  thou  mine  eyes,  that  I  may  behold  wondrous 
things  out  of  thy  law."  The  minister  and  teacher  espe- 
cially need  to  know  and  practise  this  art.  One  should 
sit  down  and  meditate  on  a  text  or  lesson  a  long 
while  in  order  that  he  may  get  up  and  preach  or  teach 
a  little  while.  Meditation  ripens  all  the  truths  of  re- 
ligion and  causes  them  to  bear  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit. 
It  carries  us  into  the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High 
where  we  may  know  God  most  directly  and  intimately. 
We  do  not  know  God  best  when  we  are  in  the  urgency 
and  excitement  of  action,  but  when  we  are  in  the  soli- 
tude and  silence  of  meditation.  "  Be  still,  and  know 
that  I  am  God." 

The  mountain  lake  reflects  the  full-orbed  sun, 
Not  when  from  tempest  it  finds  no  surcease, 

But  when  the  last,  least  ripple's  course  is  run, 
And  its  unfretted  bosom  sleeps  in  peace. 

The  face  of  God  shines  not  so  clear  through  wind  and  fire, 

As  in  the  stillness  in  which  broods  a  pure  desire. 

g.  Truth  and  Life. — Truth  and  life  are  related  as 
fountain  and  stream,  as  fuel  and  fire,  as  root  and 
fruit.  Every  idea  tends  to  execute  itself,  and  belief 
issues  in  life,  faith  becomes  fact.  While  our  instincts 
and  practical  needs  push  us  immediately  into  unrea- 
soned action,  yet  our  conduct  and  character  are  shaped 
by  our  conscious  beliefs.  As  a  man  thinketh  in  his 
lieart  so  is  he,  and  out  of  the  heart  are  the  issues  of 
life. 

**  Truth  is  in  order  to  goodness."  While  the  scientist 
and  pliiIos()[>her  may  pursue  pure  truth  for  its  own 
sake,  the  prophet  and  preaclnr  sock   it   for  practical 


234       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

ends.  They  see  visions  that  they  may  turn  them  into 
victories.  Religious  truth  especially  is  intensely  prac- 
tical, and  all  its  doctrines  are  intended  to  issue  in 
deeds.  We  need  to  be  on  our  guard  against  the  specu- 
lative spirit  in  religion,  studying  its  facts  and  spin- 
ning theories  and  carrying  on  controversies  as  a  purely 
intellectual  interest.  Theology  may  do  this  in  a  de- 
gree, but  even  theology  needs  to  beware  of  this  purpose 
and  spirit,  lest  it  lose  all  flesh  and  blood  and  become 
a  bundle  of  dry  bones.  Every  doctrine  in  religion  has 
a  corresponding  duty,  and  every  duty  a  deed,  and  the 
fountain  should  ever  be  kept  flowing  into  this  stream, 
the  root  should  be  urged  into  this  bloom  and  fruitage. 
Few  things  are  so  uninteresting  and  useless  as  re- 
ligious doctrines  that  are  not  pulsing  with  life  and 
are  only  a  rattling  skeleton.  "  If  ye  know  these 
things,  blessed  are  ye  if  ye  do  them."  "  To  him  there- 
fore that  knoweth  to  do  good,  and  doeth  it  not,  to  him 
it  is  sin."  Knowledge  disobeyed  is  sin,  light  that  in- 
creases our  guilt.  Truth  that  is  not  turned  into  deed 
and  feeling  that  is  not  poured  upon  the  will  in  action 
wither  away  and  deaden  the  very  capacity  of  the  soul 
to  know  and  feel,  leaving  its  last  state  worse  than  its 
first.  All  our  religious  knowledge  and  preaching  and 
teaching  should  flow  as  an  urgent  stream  into  action 
to  turn  all  the  wheels  and  fertilize  all  the  fields  of  life. 
The  deeper  and  more  earnest  the  conviction  the  more 
masterful  and  fruitful  it  will  be  in  life.  Mighty  men 
have  always  been  men  of  mighty  convictions.  Their 
hearts  are  fused  in  the  fire  of  a  great  faith  that  forces 
its  way  into  a  great  fact.  Out  of  their  molten  souls 
have  burst  flames  and  poured  streams  of  lava  that 
have  burnt  and  ploughed  their  way  to  victory.  Paul 
has  shaped  all  Christian  thought  because  he  was  fired 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    235 

by  a  great  faith  and  said,  "  This  one  thing  I  do." 
Luther  shook  Europe  free  into  liberty  because  he  could 
say,  "  God  help  me,  I  cannot  do  otherwise."  A  weak 
and  wavering  faith  means  a  feeble  and  fruitless  life. 
An  indifferent  dead  faith  can  have  no  life-giving  power. 
"  I  believed,  therefore  have  I  spoken,"  said  the  Psalm- 
ist, and  only  as  we  believe  earnestly  can  we  speak 
with  the  accent  of  certainty  and  authority;  only  when 
we  know  the  truth  with  depth  and  intensity  of  con- 
viction will  it  set  us  free.  We  should  therefore  use 
every  means  to  feed  our  faith  with  truth  and  feeling 
and  kindle  it  into  fire  that  it  may  burn  in  our  hearts 
and  force  its  w^ay  through  our  life  and  make  it  throb 
with  earnestness  and  power. 

Christianity  cannot  live  apart  from  its  truth,  any 
more  than  a  tree  can  continue  to  bloom  and  bear  fruit 
after  it  has  been  cut  off  from  its  root.  It  is  an  his- 
torical religion,  and  we  cannot  give  up  the  Christian 
fact  and  keep  the  Christian  faith.  Christianity  might 
retain  its  heat  for  a  time  after  the  fuel  of  truth  has 
been  withdrawn  from  it,  but  it  would  soon  begin  to 
cool  and  would  in  time  grow  cold  and  dead.  The  truth 
is  its  life,  and  only  as  it  lives  and  grows  in  the  soil  of 
historic  fact  and  living  reality  will  it  continue  to  bear 
leaves  for  the  healing  of  the  nations.  Christianity  is 
no  myth  or  legend  or  beautiful  dream,  but  a  solid 
fact  of  history,  rooted  in  the  rocky  ledge  of  Judea, 
and  we  must  contend  earnestlv  for  its  truth  and  main- 

ft 

tain  its  historic  reality,  or  it  will  die  and  disappear  as 
another  iridescent  but  eini>ty  bul)l>h^  of  the  human 
imagination.  I?ut  amidst  all  the  vicissitudes  and  uj)- 
hoavals,  advancing  knowh'dge  and  criti<'al  attacks  of 
our  modern  time,  the  truth  of  ('hristiaui ty  standdh 
fiure.     A    sublime   prophecy   is   ever   being   fulfilled: 


236      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

^'  Heaven  and  earth  shall  pass  away,  but  my  words 
shall  not  pass  away."  On  this  rock  of  truth  our  faith 
rests  and  the  kingdom  of  God  is  rising  in  the  world. 

IV.    Worship 

Religion,  being  our  conscious  relation  with  God, 
comes  to  its  highest  and  finest  form  in  worship,  which 
is  the  expression  of  our  sense  of  the  worth  of  God, 
or  his  worthship.  The  Christian  life  is  rooted  in  the 
world,  but  it  also  has  divine  relations;  the  foot  of  its 
ladder  rests  on  the  earth,  but  its  top  leans  against  the 
stars.  When  this  conscious  divine  relation  is  cut  off 
or  fades  out  of  consciousness,  religion  falls  to  mere 
ethical  culture  or  morals.  The  theory  that  "  we  should 
live  in  one  world  at  a  time  and  this  world  first "  is 
impossible  even  on  the  lowest  physical  plane.  If  this 
world  were  cut  off  from  all  other  worlds,  it  would  die 
as  though  it  were  struck  with  a  universal  blast  of 
lightning  or  crushed  by  a  cosmic  collision.  It  is  the 
blue  sky  that  keeps  the  grass  green,  and  the  sun  shin- 
ing above  us  that  makes  the  earth  blossom  around  us. 
It  takes  the  whole  solar  system  to  sustain  our  bodies, 
and  it  takes  all  the  stars  in  the  sky  to  grow  a  big  soul. 
This  world  is  too  little  for  our  immortal  spirits,  it  does 
not  have  elbow  room  and  breathing  space  for  us,  and 
our  spirits  demand  the  infinite  and  eternal.  Only  God 
is  great  enough  to  match  and  satisfy  our  souls,  and 
worship  is  a  universal  fact  and  practical  necessity. 

I.  Prayer. — Worship  first  builds  an  altar  and  ex- 
presses itself  in  prayer.  Prayer  is  the  communion  of 
the  soul  with  God  in  which  it  pours  itself  out  in  adora- 
tion, thanksgiving,  confession,  and  supplication. 

(a)  Such  relation  to  God  is  just  as  natural  and 
necessary  as  a  child's  speech  to  its  father,  and  it  is  an 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    237 

impulse  of  the  human  heart  that  operates  with  the  uni- 
versality and  spontaneity  and  force  of  our  other  funda- 
mental and  permanent  instincts.  We  are  not  now  con- 
cerned with  the  theological  and  philosophical  deeps  and 
difiSculties  of  prayer,  such  as  its  relation  to  natural 
law,  but  only  with  its  psychological  aspects  which 
are  the  experiences  of  our  consciousness.  But  these 
philosophical  difficulties,  especially  the  relation  of 
prayer  to  natural  law,  need  not  trouble  our  faith,  for 
we  are  constantly  answering  the  prayers  we  make  to 
one  another  by  using  natural  laws  to  serve  our  own 
ends.  Mr.  A.  J.  Balfour,  one  of  our  profoundest 
philosophical  thinkers,  in  his  recent  Gifford  Lectures, 
strikingly  says:  "These  difficulties  are  difficulties  of 
theory,  not  of  practice.  They  never  disturb  the  ordi- 
narv  man — nor  the  extraordinarv  man  in  his  ordinarv 
moments.  Human  intercourse  is  not  embarrassed  by 
the  second,  nor  simple  piety  by  the  first.  And  perhaps 
the  enlightened  lounger,  requesting  a  club  waiter  to 
shut  thft  window,  brushes  aside,  or  ignores,  as  many 
philosophical  puzzles  as  a  mother  passionately  praying 
for  the  safety  of  her  child."  ^ 

Prayer,  then,  is  grounded  in  the  objective  reality  of 
the  relation  between  the  soul  and  God.  The  faith  that 
our  prayers  reach  God  and  enter  into  his  plan  and 
that  he  answers  them  according  to  his  wisdom  and 
will  so  that  they  count  for  something  in  life,  and 
effect  results  that  would  not  otherwise  be  attained,  is 
the  necessary  condition  of  any  real  prayer  whatsoever. 
The  subjective  reflex  influence  of  prayer  upon  the  soul 
is  a  vital  fact,  but  if  we  believe  thai  this  is  all  there  i.s 
in  prayer  we  cannot  trulv  nrav  at  all.  This  l)oIief  or 
lack  of  faith  turns^praver  into  an  insincere  form  and 

'  Thtism  and  Humanism,  pp.  207-208. 


238      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

hollow  mockery.  Such  an  exercise  of  the  mind  would 
give  the  lie  to  itself  and  could  only  excite  despair  or  a 
bitter  laugh.  We  cannot  continue  to  believe  and  prac- 
tise with  the  heart  what  we  have  rejected  with  the  head. 
We  can  no  more  rise  above  ourselves  in  prayer  that  is 
only  a  subjective  state  than  we  can  lift  ourselves  to  the 
stars  by  pulling  on  the  hair  of  our  heads.  Such  prayer 
is  only  a  soliloquy,  and  when  its  secret  is  discovered  it 
will  cease  to  be  rational  and  respectable.  And  so  psy- 
chology not  less  than  Scripture  aflQrms  that  he  that 
cometh  to  God  must  believe  that  he  is  and  that  he  is  a 
rewarder  of  them  that  diligently  seek  him. 

(6)  The  objective  reality  of  prayer  must  be  matched 
by  appropriate  subjective  conditions.  Its  virtue  de- 
pends on  the  state  of  heart  out  of  which  it  springs.  It 
is  impossible  to  please  God  without  that  faith  and  love 
that  constitute  fellowship.  Such  faith  is  the  vital 
artery  that  binds  us  to  God,  and  when  this  is  severed 
or  absent  the  channel  of  communication  is  broken. 
Penitence  for  sin  is  another  condition  of  prayer.  "  If 
I  regard  iniquity  in  my  heart,  the  Lord  will  not  hear 
me."  Any  sin  cherished  in  the  heart  separates  it  from 
God  and  sears  it  with  guilt,  and  thereby  makes  true 
prayer  impossible.  Humility  is  also  a  condition  of 
prayer,  for  **  God  resisteth  the  proud,  but  he  giveth 
grace  to  the  humble."  "  Humble  yourselves  in  the 
sight  of  the  Lord,  and  he  shall  lift  you  up."  Humility 
casts  us  in  dependence  upon  God  and  puts  us  in  a  mood 
of  heart  in  which  we  shall  ask  only  for  such  things 
as  he  will  give  us. 

Brotherly  love  is  essential  to  prayer,  for  if  we  love 
not  our  brother  whom  we  have  seen,  how  can  we  love 
God  whom  we  have  not  seen?  We  cannot  ask  God  to 
forgive  us  if  we  do  not  forgive  others.    Any  malice, 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     239 

hatred,  envy,  jealousy,  or  evil  feeling  in  the  heart  turns 
prayer  into  hypocrisy  and  acts  as  a  bar  to  the  blessing 
of  God.  Patient  waiting  must  also  attend  our  prayer, 
for  the  purposes  of  God  often  take  long  time,  and  we 
must  not  lose  faith  and  grow  impatient  but  be  of  good 
courage  and  wait  upon  the  Lord.  The  most  fundamen- 
tal of  all  the  conditions  of  prayer  is  submission  to 
the  wisdom  and  will  of  God.  "  Thy  will  be  done  "  is 
the  explicit  or  implicit  condition  of  every  prayer.  It 
would  be  intolerable  folly  and  fatality  for  us  to  im- 
pose our  will,  so  often  blind  and  perverted  and  selfish, 
upon  the  infinite  will  of  God,  and  therefore  we  humbly 
cast  ourselves  upon  him  and  ask  him  to  grant  or  refuse 
our  petitions  as  he  sees  best.  We  then  accept  his 
decision  as  infinite  wisdom  and  love  and  count  his  very 
denial  as  one  of  his  good  gifts.  Out  of  a  heart  of 
faith  and  penitence  and  humility  and  brotherly  love 
and  patience  and  submission  will  arise  prayer  that 
will  be  "  an  odour  of  a  sweet  smell,  a  sacrifice  accept- 
able, well-pleasing  to  God." 

(c)  When  the  objective  reality  and  the  subjective 
condition  of  prayer  thus  match  each  other  and  combine, 
the  blessing  of  prayer  comes  first  in  its  reflex  influence. 
It  creates  a  new  inner  world,  which  is  one  of  the  deep- 
est and  most  vital  blessings  of  life.  It  closets  us  with 
God,  withdraws  and  inhibits  the  attention  from  dis- 
tracting things  and  focuses  it  upon  the  object  of 
prayer,  and  thus  kindles  it  into  higher  illumination 
and  power.  When  the  attention  is  turned  in  prater 
upon  the  greatness  of  God,  it  looms  upon  the  soul  in 
overpowering  majesty  and  mystery;  upon  his  goodness, 
it  fills  tlie  soul  with  a  new  sense  of  his  care  and  love; 
upon  the  soul's  own  sin,  it  is  seen  and  UAi  in  its  naked 
guilt  and  vileness;  upon  the  soul's  needs,  it  cries  for 


240      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

help  and  grace;  upon  Christ,  he  is  seen  and  seized  as 
the  Saviour.  These  various  objects  become  vivid  points 
in  consciousness,  and  they  in  turn  kindle  the  soul  with 
feeling  until  it  may  glow  with  holy  emotion,  surrender 
itself  in  profound  trust,  experience  a  sweet  sense  of 
forgiveness  and  peace,  subside  into  deep  calm  or  rise 
on  wings  of  exultant  hope  and  determination  and 
courage. 

Prayer  is  thus  largely  communion  and  meditation  in 
the  presence  of  God.  The  idea  that  it  is  mostly  peti- 
tion, especially  that  it  is  begging  and  teasing  God  for 
personal  favours,  even  for  material  and  worldly  goods, 
is  psychologically  wrong  and  obnoxious  to  the  reverent 
soul.  We  do  have  a  right  to  carry  all  our  needs,  includ- 
ing our  business  and  health  and  worldly  affairs,  to  God 
in  prayer,  but  prayer  is  mainly  the  soul  consciously 
in  the  presence  of  God  communing  with  him  and  being 
filled  with  his  Spirit,  and  thus  being  calmed  and 
spiritualized  so  as  to  see  all  things  in  the  light  of 
God's  wisdom  and  be  strengthened  to  do  his  will. 

(d)  This,  however,  is  not  the  whole  of  prayer. 
Prayer  that  would  stop  at  this  point  would  fall  short 
of  its  full  condition  and  fail  of  its  objective  answer. 
The  theological  statement  of  the  operation  of  prayer 
is  that  the  Spirit  of  God  breathes  into  the  soul  the  dis- 
position and  determination  to  do  his  will;  but  the  psy- 
chological statement  of  the  human  side  of  the  same  fact 
is  that  the  soul  concentrates  its  attention  into  unity 
and  intensity  of  thought  which  then  pours  a  flood  of 
feeling  on  the  will  and  moves  it,  perhaps  with  mighty 
purpose  and  power,  to  action.  The  action  is  a  part  of 
the  prayer,  its  logical  continuation  and  completion. 
We  have  never  finished  a  prayer  until  in  obedience  we 
have  done  the  thing  w^e  have  prayed  for. 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    241 

Prayer  is  thus  no  easy  lazy  way  of  getting  God  to 
hand  us  favours  freely,  to  bestow  upon  us  goods  ready- 
made,  to  do  our  work  for  us,  a  short-cut  to  blessings 
and  an  escape  from  the  burden  of  hard  work  and  the 
battle  of  the  cross.  Rather  it  is  a  girding  up  of  our 
loins  for  the  burden,  a  call  to  battle,  a  way  of  co- 
working  with  God.  Instead  of  releasing  us  from  our 
duty  of  work,  it  sends  us  right  back  to  our  task  to 
enter  into  it  with  renewed  consecration  and  intensified 
energy.  The  difference  is  that  after  prayer  we  know 
and  feel  that  God  is  working  for  us  and  in  us,  and  if 
God  be  for  us  who  can  be  against  us? 

This  psychology  of  praj-er  is  in  accordance  with 
Scripture  teaching,  which  constantly  connects  work- 
ing with  praying,  either  explicitly  or  implicitly.  ''  Ask, 
and  it  shall  be  given  you;  seek,  and  ye  shall  find, 
knock,  and  it  shall  be  opened  unto  you,"  commands 
which  bid  us  not  to  stop  with  asking,  but  to  go  on 
into  seeking  and  knocking.  A  striking  saying  on  the 
subject  is  found  in  James  5:16.  Translated  in  the 
Authorized  Version,  ^'  The  effectual  fervent  prayer  of  a 
righteous  man  availeth  much,"  and  in  the  Revised  Ver- 
sion, "The  supplication  of  a  righteous  man  availeth 
much  in  its  working,"  the  passage  has  been  translated 
by  Dr.  Kendal  Harris,  "  The  prayer  of  a  righteous  man 
is  of  great  force  when  energized."  The  meaning  is 
I)Iain.  We  must  energize  our  prayers.  Uttered  without 
being  energized,  they  may  be  only  so  much  vain  wishing 
and  empty  breath.  Hut  when  we  put  into  them  our 
energies,  turning  our  wish  into  work,  such  prayer  **  is 
of  great  force."  God  will  llicn  also  energize  our  prayer 
with  his  omnii)ot('n('e,  pouring  his  will  into  the  same 
channel  with  our  will.  Trayer,  tlien,  docs  not  make 
God  our  servant  and  put  him  at  the  mercy  of  our  every 


24^2      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

whim  and  caprice.  On  the  contrary,  it  makes  us  serv- 
ant of  our  prayers  and  urges  us  to  work  them  out  with 
all  our  might.  It  turns  our  words  into  sweat  and 
blood  and  makes  us  mighty  to  the  pulling  down  of 
strongholds  of  evil  and  in  building  the  walls  of  right- 
eousness. To  pray  aright  is  no  light  thing,  uttering 
easy  words  that  drop  from  our  lips  as  the  conventional 
words  of  society.  Prayer  is  hard  work,  the  intensest 
energizing  of  all  our  powers,  the  consecration  of  all 
our  possessions,  the  utmost  we  can  give  and  do,  serve 
and  sacrifice,  to  work  out  our  prayers  into  deeds  and 
fact.  This  truth  was  expressed  by  Cromwell  when  he 
said  to  his  soldiers,  "  Trust  God  and  keep  your  powder 
dry,"  and  by  Dr.  Chalmers  when  he  said,  "  We  are  to 
pray  as  though  God  did  all  and  then  work  as  though 
we  did  all."  When  the  will  of  God  and  the  work  of  man 
thus  coincide  and  flow  in  the  same  channel,  prayer  be- 
comes a  fact  and  force  that  fills  the  soul  with  power 
and  peace  and  gives  it  the  victory  that  overcomes  the 
world. 

When  all  these  conditions  are  fulfilled,  prayer  is  ac- 
ceptable to  God  and  sure  of  its  answer.  The  answer 
may  not  be  according  to  our  will,  or  in  the  form  we 
desired,  but  it  will  be  some  better  thing  than  we 
asked.  Such  prayer  hides  our  life  with  Christ  in  God 
and  tunes  it  all  to  the  music  of  the  Father's  wisdom 
and  will.  It  sets  us  afloat  on  the  current  of  the 
divine  omnipotence  and  causes  all  things  to  work  to- 
gether for  our  good.  It  calms  life  into  serenity  and 
peace  at  the  centre  and  gives  it  power  around  its  whole 
circumference.  It  rolls  our  burdens  on  the  Lord  and  lets 
us  rest  in  confidence  and  joy  in  the  Everlasting  Arm. 
It  takes  us  into  the  secret  place  of  the  Most  High, 
where  we  are  filled  with  the  divine  Spirit,  and  then 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    243 

it  sends  us  out  strong  and  victorious  to  do  the  work  and 
win  the  battle  of  life. 

2.    Music  and   Song. — Another  element  in  worship 
is  music  and  song.     Music  is  the  language  of  feeling, 
as  speech  is  primarily  the  language  of  thought.     The 
heart  beats  rhythmically.    Words  are  a  poor  utterance 
even  for  the  mind.     The  heart  drops  such  cumbrous 
means  and  takes  to  the  soaring  wing  of  song.    Music 
is  a  voice  to  its  joy  and  a  tongue  to  its  sorrow.    When 
a  bliss  is  born  in  the  soul  it  instinctively  sings,  even 
as  the  angels  sang  at  the  birth  of  Christ.     In  sorrow, 
the  first  solemn  chords  of  the  instrument  or  notes  of 
the  choir  let  forth  fresh  floods  of  grief.     How  often 
do  we  have  emotions  that  we  cannot  express  or  even 
understand,   until   some  touching  melody  or  massive 
chords  give  utterance  to  them,  and  then  we  experience 
relief  and  satisfaction.    No  feeling  has  fully  expressed 
itself  until   it  has  flowered   into  song.     Music  has  a 
strange  power  of  touching  all  the  million  strings  in  the 
complex  harp  of  the  soul  and  sweeping  it  with  joy 
or  sorrow.    It  has  charms  to  soothe  the  savage  breast, 
it  floods   the  home  with   melodv,  it  is  a  fine  social 
pleasure,  it  expresses  our  most  intricate  and  refined 
esthetic   emotions,    it    goes    deeper    than    words    and 
strikes   the  profoundest   chords   of  the  soul,    it    stirs 
nations  with  passitm  and  sweeps  soldiers  into  battle. 
"Such  sweet  compulsion  doth   in  music  lie"  that   it 
puts  a  soothing  or  inspiring  s])cll  upon  us  in  all  the 
relations  and  experiences  of  life. 

Music  rises  to  its  noblest  flights  in  worship.  The 
Bible  is  full  of  song.  Moses  and  the  children  of  Israel 
broke  into  song  after  they  had  i)assed  through  the  Ked 
Sea.  David,  the  sweet  singer  of  Israel,  with  his  [)salm 
and  harp,  is  the  poet  and  musician  of  the  Hible,  whose 


244      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

songs  are  still  singing  their  way  through  the  world. 
In  the  magnificent  temple  service  there  was  a  trained 
choir  or  chorus  accompanied  with  a  full  orchestra. 
Christ  was  born  amidst  a  shower  of  heavenly  song, 
and  it  is  pleasant  to  remember  that  Jesus  himself 
sang.  All  through  the  Scriptures  w^e  are  commanded 
to  sing  unto  the  Lord;  to  praise  him  with  harp  and 
trumpet  and  organ;  to  speak  in  psalms  and  hymns 
and  spiritual  songs.  Finally  the  book  closes  with  the 
pearly  gates  of  heaven  left  ajar,  through  which  there 
floats  out  upon  us  the  voice  of  harpers  harping  with 
their  harps  and  singing  the  new  song  of  Moses  and  the 
lamb. 

The  pipe  organ  is  the  king  of  instruments  in  wor- 
ship. It  is  a  whole  orchestra  in  itself.  It  combines  the 
fine  silvery  strains  of  the  violin,  the  softness  of  the 
flute,  the  plaintiveness  of  the  oboe,  the  assertiveness  of 
the  trumpet,  and  the  deep  grandeur  of  the  thunder. 
In  range  and  variety,  richness  and  sweetness,  colour 
and  splendour  of  tone  it  is  incomparable.  It  blends 
perfectly  with  the  human  voice.  It  is  suggestive  of 
devotional  moods  and  aspirations.  It  lifts  the  con- 
gregation on  its  mighty  wings  and  bears  it  along  and 
aloft.  It  imparts  volume  and  depth,  inspiration  and 
power  to  the  singing.  It  is  a  mighty  means  of  grace, 
unloosing  floods  of  spiritual  emotion  that  soothe  and 
comfort,  stimulate  and  inspire  the  soul. 

And  the  Christian  hymn  has  had  a  wonderful  mis- 
sion in  singing  the  church  into  faith  and  faithfulness, 
service  and  sacrifice,  adoration  and  aspiration,  hope 
and  courage.  When  a  soul  is  born  into  the  kingdom 
its  first  impulse  is  to  sing.  We  have  not  fully  felt  the 
gospel  until  we  have  sung  it.  The  hymn-maker  and 
organ-builder  have  helped  to  express  and  propagate 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    245 

the  gospel  hardly  less  than  the  sermon-builder.  The 
poet  and  musician  have  their  sacred  office  as  well  as 
the  prophet  and  preacher.  Ther-e  is  something  sacra- 
mental in  rhythm  and  metre.  Atheism  is  not  sing- 
able and  produces  no  songs,  but  Christian  faith  in- 
stinctively breaks  forth  into  praise.  Music  has  given 
wings  to  the  gospel,  and  the  gospel  has  glorified  music. 
Without  song  the  gospel  would  have  been  shorn  of 
some  of  its  most  powerful  pinions,  and  without  the  in- 
spiration of  Christianity  the  masterpieces  of  Beethoven 
and  Haydn  would  never  have  been  born.  Music  has 
touched  the  zenith  of  its  glory  only  as  it  has  laid  the 
,  noblest  products  of  its  genius  as  a  tribute  on  the  altar 
of  Christ.  Song  is  as  vital  a  part  of  worship  as 
prayer;  and  when  the  church  ceases  to  sing  it  will  be 
silent  with  the  silence  of  death. 

More  definitely,  the  office  of  song  in  the  sanctuary  is 
to  i)raise  God.  Worship  seeks  the  highest  form  of  ex- 
pression, which  is  poetry  wedded  to  music,  the  rhythm 
of  speech  and  song.  Music  is  one  of  the  art-paths  to 
God,  and  in  some  respects  it  gives  the  fullest  and 
freest  access  to  and  communion  with  him.  Through 
its  strains  our  praise  is  gladdest,  our  gratitude  is  rirh- 
est,  our  aspirations  are  holiest;  on  its  wings  we  are 
freed  from  earth-clogs  and  are  borne  nearest  to  heaven 
and  the  heart  of  God. 

Song  in  the  sanctuirry  binds  hearts  together  in  Chris- 
tian feUowshij).  No  oilier  iiieans  of  expression  equals 
music  in  its  power  of  kindling  common  emotions. 
Christians  never  get  closer  together  in  thought  and 
feeling  than  when  melted  into  harmony  in  praise. 
The  hymns  of  the  church  are  one  of  its  great  unifying 
forces.  Creeds  have  sj)Iit  it  into  a  thousand  frag- 
ments, but  never  has  it  been  divided  by  a  hymn.    Chris- 


246      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

tians  agree  in  their  songs  better  than  in  anything  else. 
Few  differences  of  theology  have  found  their  way  into 
their  hymns.  However  they  divide  along  lines  of  doc- 
trine, when  they  get  to  singing  their  hearts  begin  to 
beat  in  unison  and  their  thoughts  and  feelings  blend 
into  fellowship. 

Sacred  song  is  also  a  means  of  conversion.  Music 
appeals  to  the  better  nature  in  man;  it  stirs  the 
divinity  that  is  in  him.  The  gospel  is  never  more  per- 
suasive and  powerful  than  when  it  links  itself  with 
melody.  Many  a  gospel  arrow  has  been  feathered  with 
a  song.  The  gospel  of  song  has  converted  countless 
thousands  that  have  remained  unmoved  under  gospel 
sermons.  Revivals  are  always  shot  through  and 
through  with  song.  Leading  evangelists  associate  with 
themselves  gifted  gospel  singers,  and  thus  go  "  forth  by 
two  and  two,"  as  ^Tesus  sent  out  his  disciples.  When 
we  cannot  preach  the  gospel  into  men's  hearts  we  must 
sing  it  in ;  or  rather  we  must  do  both,  and  speech  and 
song  tipped  with  flames  of  the  Holy  Spirit  will  prove 
the  power  of  God  unto  salvation. 

Church  music,  while  its  artistic  qualities  ought  not 
to  be  made  the  chief  thing,  ought  to  be  good  music, 
even  the  best.  There  is  no  more  virtue  in  poor  sing- 
ing than  in  poor  preaching.  The  singing  should  be  con- 
gregational. The  praise  of  the  sanctuary  should  not  be 
turned  into  an  entertainment  by  a  few  trained  per- 
formers. We  cannot  praise  the  Lord  by  proxy,  and  the 
church  should  not  attempt  to  compete  with  the  play- 
house. There  is  something  wonderfully  inspiring  in  a 
great  mass  of  voices  surging  in  song.  Good  congrega- 
tional singing  is  a  mantle  broad  as  charity  that  will 
cover  many  artistic  faults  in  the  choir  and  also  many 
poor  sermons.     So  long  as  a  church  has  hearty  con- 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     2^7 

gregational  singing  it  cannot  die.  The  way  to  have 
congregational  singing  is  for  the  congregation  to  sing. 
''  Let  the  people  praise  thee,  O  God,  let  all  the  people 
praise  thee."  It  is  not  necessary  to  be  a  trained  singer 
to  sing  in  church.  Let  the  people  sing  anyway.  No 
instrument  is  in  perfect  tune.  Noise  is  the  raw  ma- 
terial out  of  which  music  is  made,  and  a  great  volume 
of  song  will  take  up  and  harmonize  a  good  deal  of  it. 

Song  in  the  sanctuary,  then,  is  not  a  mere  embellish- 
ment, but  is  one  of  the  most  vital  and  effective  parts 
of  the  service.  It  stimulates  the  whole  Christian  life 
and  causes  it  to  blossom  and  bear  the  fruits  of  the 
Spirit.  The  church  has  not  yet  found  out  its  full 
power.  It  is  one  of  our  undeveloped  resources.  We 
want  more  singing  and  better,  until  the  gospel  has 
found  its  fullest  and  most  joyous  expression  and  the 
whole  earth  is  vocal  with  praise. 

3.  Giving. — Another  element  of  worship  is  giving. 
Worship,  being  only  another  spelling  of  worthship,  is 
our  sense  of  worth.  The  value  we  put  on  anything  and 
the  price  we  are  willing  to  pay  for  it  is  our  worship 
of  it.  Thus  if  we  pay  two  dollars  for  a  book  our  worth- 
ship  or  worship  of  that  book  is  two  dollars.  Ex- 
pressed in  this  coarse  but  not  false  way,  what  we 
pay  to  God  or  give  tu  his  service  measures  our  sense 
of  his  worth  to  us  and  is  our  worship  of  him.  If  a  man 
gives  two  dollars  to  the  service  of  God  when  he  could 
and  should  give  ten  or  twenty  or  two  hundred,  that  two 
dollars  expresses  his  sense  of  the  worth  of  God  and  he 
has  a  twodollar  god.  The  rich  peojjle  whom  Jesus 
saw  casting  into  the  temple  treasury  out  of  tlieir 
abundance  had  a  cheaf)  God,  l)ecause  they  measured  his 
worth  at  only  a  negligible  fraction  of  their  total  pos- 
sessions, whereas  the  widow  who  cast  in   two  i)cnce 


24^8      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

had  a  dear  and  precious  God,  because  she  thought  he 
was  worth  all  she  had.  Our  giving  in  worship,  then, 
goes  deep  into  our  religion  and  expresses  our  sense  of 
the  worth  of  God  and  intensifies  all  our  relations  with 
him. 

Giving  is  a  universal  fact  in  all  religion,  and  the 
heathen  far  outdo  Christians  in  this  respect.  The  Old 
Testament  legislation  taxed  the  people  two  tithes  for 
the  support  of  the  church  and  state,  besides  many 
other  offerings,  and  the  unfaithful  people  were  charged 
with  having  "  robbed  "  God  "  in  tithes  and  offerings.'^ 
They  were  urged :  "  Bring  ye  all  the  tithes  into  the 
storehouse,  that  there  may  be  meat  in  my  house,  and 
prove  me  now  herewith,  saith  the  Lord  of  hosts,  if  I  will 
not  open  you  the  windows  of  heaven,  and  pour  you 
out  a  blessing,  that  there  shall  not  be  room  enough  to 
receive  it.'-  Jesus  watched  the  treasury  of  the  temple 
and  took  note  of  the  gifts  of  the  people,  and  the  col- 
lection appeared  early  in  the  Christian  church.  Paul 
immediately  follows  his  splendid  chapter  (I  Corinthians 
15)  on  the  resurrection  of  Christ  with  the  logical  ap- 
plication, "  Now  concerning  the  collection,"  putting 
behind  this  offering  the  tremendous  fact  and  inspira- 
tion of  this  epochal  event.  Offerings  are  thus  in- 
woven with  the  whole  Bible  in  its  history  and  doctrine 
and  are  a  vital  part  of  Christianity. 

Money  is  obviously  necessary  for  the  support  of  the 
gospel  at  home  and  for  its  propagation  abroad.  God 
is  carrying  on  an  immense  business  in  establishing  his 
kingdom  in  the  world,  a  business  compared  with  which 
all  commercial  enterprises  are  local  and  small.  He 
must  have  means  to  pay  the  bills,  and  he  calls  on  us 
to  give  our  silver  and  gold,  which  are  his  anyway. 
There  is  a  business  side  to  religion,  as  well  as  a  re- 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    249 

ligious  side  to  business,  and  we  should  put  business 
honesty  and  promptness  into  our  religion  as  well  as 
religious  conscience  and  brotherhood  into  our  business. 
Sometimes  the  church  of  Christ  is  a  shame  in  the  sight 
of  the  world  because  of  its  unfaithfulness  or  laxness 
in  properly  supporting  its  ministers  and  churches  and 
in  paying  its  bills.  The  Lord  has  need  of  our  money, 
and  we  should  pay  into  his  treasury  according  to  the 
systematic  and  proportional  every-member  rule  laid 
down  by  Paul :  ''  Upon  the  first  day  of  the  week  let 
every  one  of  you  lay  by  him  in  store,  as  God  has  pros- 
pered him." 

But  the  psychology  of  giving  goes  much  deeper  than 
the  mere  commercial  honesty  of  paying  our  bills.  There 
is  a  close  connection  between  wealth  and  worship, 
gold  and  grace.  Our  money  is  ordinarily  our  daily 
service  and  sacrifice  crystallized  into  gold  and  silver, 
our  life-blood  minted  into  coin.  When  we  give  our 
money  to  God  we  give  him  our  time,  our  toil,  our 
strength,  our  sacrifice,  our  very  body  and  soul,  and 
thus  we  are  literally  expressing  our  sense  of  his  worth 
to  us,  or  we  are  worshipping  him.  ^Ye  are  also  giving 
practical  expression  to  our  sense  of  the  worth  and  needs 
of  our  fellow-men  and  of  the  power  of  the  gospel  to 
help  and  heal  and  save  them.  And  if  we  love  not  our 
brother  whom  we  have  seen,  how  can  we  love  God  whom 
we  have  not  seen?  Giving  is  also  one  of  the  richest 
means  of  grace  in  that  it  expands  our  sympathies,  en- 
larges our  vision,  and  enables  us  in  a  degrt'e  to  lay  down 
our  lives  for  the  brethren,  and  thus  in  losing  our  life 
we  save  it.  Giving  saves  us  from  scltishness  and  from 
drying  up  in  all  the  fountains  of  the  heart  and  wither- 
ing into  dust. 

We  thus  learn  the  divine  secret,  which  Jesus  brought 


250       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

from  heaven  and  which  he  knew  as  none  other  ever 
knew,  that  "  It  is  more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive." 
Getting  by  giving,  gaining  by  losing,  addition  by  sub- 
traction,— this  is  one  of  the  paradoxical  law^s  of  the 
spiritual  life.  Great  souls  pour  their  finest  treasures 
out  upon  others  in  lavish  prodigality  and  thereby  they 
enlarge  and  enrich  themselves.  The  streams  they  send 
forth  in  giving  come  back  to  them  in  mist  and  rain 
that  keep  their  lives  fresh  with  dew  and  their  fountains 
full.  It  is  not  a  vain  promise  that  if  we  bring  our 
tithes  into  the  storehouse  God  will  pour  us  out  a  bless- 
ing which  there  shall  not  be  room  enough  to  receive. 

Giving,  then,  is  not  an  artificial  means  of  promoting 
religion,  much  less  is  it  a  mercenary  scheme  of  the 
church  for  making  money  and  keeping  its  coffers  full, 
or  of  the  priest  for  feathering  his  own  nest.  Even 
some  Christians  look  on  the  collection  as  a  bit  of 
worldly  business  interjected  into  the  service  and  intro- 
ducing a  jarring  note,  and  think  it  would  conduce  to 
the  spirituality  of  the  worship  if  it  were  dispensed  with. 
Sometimes  we  see  in  a  church  newspaper  notice  or 
placarded  on  the  front  of  a  church  the  announcement, 
"  No  Collection."  It  is  evidently  a  bid  for  attendance, 
as  though  the  collection  were  so  burdensome  or  repel- 
lent that  it  keeps  people  away  from  church.  Such  an 
announcement  is  a  reflection  on  the  good  sense  of  peo- 
ple, and  it  puts  them  in  a  cheap  class  w^ho  would  like 
to  sponge  their  religion  off  others;  it  labels  them  as 
religious  beggars  and  tramps.  People  have  more  re- 
spect for  churches  that  respect  themselves.  They  ex- 
pect to  pay  something  for  religion  as  for  other  benefits ; 
and  thev  verv  w^ell  know  that  thev  are  welcome  whether 
they  are  able  to  pay  or  not.  But  there  is  a  deeper 
objection  to  such  a  notice:  it  forgets  that  the  collec- 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     251 

tion  is  as  much  an  act  of  worship  as  any  other  part  of 
the  service.  Paying  is  as  essential  in  our  religion  as 
praying.  If  we  give  notice,  ''  No  collection  will  be 
taken,"  we  may  also  announce,  "  The  Bible  will  not  be 
read  in  this  church,"  "  Prater  will  not  be  offered," 
*'  The  name  of  God  will  not  be  mentioned  in  this  serv- 
ice." God  has  united  getting  and  giving  in  his  service, 
and  what  God  hath  joined  together  let  not  man  put 
asunder. 

We  commonly  think  of  giving  as  a  duty,  that  which 
is  due  or  owed,  and  this  carries  with  it  all  the  unpleas- 
ant implications  of  a  debt.  But  we  should  rise  far 
above  this  conception  and  view  giving,  not  simply 
as  a  duty  and  debt,  but  as  a  privilege  and  delight.  The 
Hebrew  worshippers  blew  their  trumpets  as  the  smoke 
of  their  offerings  rose  from  the  altar,  expressive  of  the 
gladness  with  which  they  rendered  this  sacrifice  and 
service;  and  we,  having  passed  into  the  dispensation  of 
the  Spirit,  should  worship  God  with  our  offerings  with 
even  greater  joy.  That  we  by  our  gifts  can  give  wings 
to  the  gosjiel  to  send  it  over  the  world,  that  oui*  money 
gives  us  an  arm  and  liand  by  which  we  can  reach 
around  the  globe  and  touch  and  bless  every  human 
being,  is  a  splendid  privilege  that  we  should  appre- 
ciate and  that  should  cause  us  to  blow  our  most  joyous 
truin[)els.  This  power  immensely  widens  our  si)here  of 
service  and  makes  us  l)enefacl()rs  of  the  worhl ;  it  en- 
ables us  to  do  the  greater  works  which  Jesus  promised 
us  we  could  do;  and  it  broadens  and  enriches  our  life 
and  hides  it  more  deeply  with  Christ  in  (lod.  We 
should  leap  at  such  a  privilege  and  find  its  duty  a  great 
delight. 

4.  Social  Worship. — An  element  of  special  impor- 
tance in  worship  is  its  social  nature.     While  we  may 


252      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

worship  God  in  our  private  lives  and  even  in  solitude, 
yet  worship  reaches  its  fullest  expression  in  the  public 
services  of  the  sanctuary.  The  Scriptures  put  special 
emphasis  on  the  need  and  duty  of  such  worship  and 
urge  us  "  not  to  forsake  the  assembling  of  ourselves 
together."  David  was  glad  when  it  was  church  time, 
and  Jesus  "  as  his  custom  was  went  into  the  synagogue 
on  the  sabbath  day."  The  psychological  reason  for  this 
is  plain.  Religion,  while  inwardly  it  is  an  intensely 
individual  relation  with  God,  yet  outwardly  is,  as  we 
have  seen,  intensely  social  and  contagious.  On  the  day 
of  Pentecost  all  the  believers  in  Jerusalem  were  with 
one  accord  in  one  place ;  every  one  was  present,  not  one 
seat  was  vacant  to  break  with  its  gap  the  spiritual  cur- 
rent, and  all  were  crowded  together  in  unity  of  heart  to 
receive  the  blessing.  Such  a  congregation  is  deeply 
susceptible  to  and  receptive  of  spiritual  influences.  It 
is  thirsty  soil  to  the  rains  of  grace;  it  is  a  powerful 
invitation  and  appeal  to  the  Holy  Spirit.  God  can 
pour  more  of  his  Spirit,  so  to  speak,  upon  five  hun- 
dred or  five  thousand  people  than  upon  fifty  or  five, 
because  they  are  moved  if  not  melted  by  a  common  feel- 
ing and  are  thus  more  susceptible  to  his  grace.  If, 
then,  we  want  to  get  the  fire  of  God's  grace  in  our 
hearts  we  must  go  to  the  altar  where  it  burns;  if  we 
want  as  Christians  to  strengthen  our  faith  and  fel- 
lowship we  must  flock  together  and  forsake  not  the 
^  assembling  of  ourselves  in  the  house  of  the  Lord. 
This  answers  the  question,  often  raised,  whether 
there  is  not  religion  outside  the  church  and  whether 
we  cannot  live  the  Christian  life  as  well  without  unit- 
ing with  the  church.  We  freely  grant  that  there  is 
religion  outside  the  church,  and  we  wish  there  were 
more  of  it.    We  are  not  in  the  least  interested  in  deny- 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    253 

ing  or  disparaging  such  religion.  There  are  men  out- 
side the  church,  making  no  profession  of  religion,  whose 
fine  character  and  conduct  put  to  shame  many  profess- 
ing Christians;  just  as  there  are  pious  heathen  men 
that  excite  the  wonder  of  our  missionaries,  even  as 
the  Roman  centurion  by  his  faith  drew  a  wonderful 
eulogy  from  Jesus,  and  as  Cornelius  caused  Peter  to 
wonder  at  the  universal  grace  of  God. 

Nevertheless,  the  question  still  remains,  can  we  be 
as  good  Christians  outside  the  church  as  in  it?  The 
question  is  like  asking,  Can  we  have  as  good  harvests 
without  farming,  as  good  education  without  schools, 
and  as  good  homes  without  houses?  The  great  bless- 
ings of  life  are  not  lying  around  scattered  and  loose, 
but  are  organized  into  definite  means  and  institutions. 
One  may  acquire  some  education  without  attending 
school  and  college,  but  if  he  wants  to  get  a  sound,  sym- 
metrical, disciplined  education  he  would  better  go  to 
school  and  get  the  benefit  of  its  social  instruction  and 
infiuence.  When  Jesus  fed  the  five  thousand  he  had 
them  sit  down  upon  the  green  grass  in  companies  of 
fifties  and  hundreds:  social  organization  and  fellow- 
ship. If  there  were  any  stragglers  that  refused  to  sit 
down  in  the  ranks  and  hung  around  the  outer  edges 
of  the  crowd,  did  they  get  any  bi-ead?  The  church  is 
the  ai)i)()inti'd  place  where  we  are  bidden  to  sit  down  in 
orderly  ranks  and  social  feUowship  to  receive  the  bread 
of  life,  and  if  we  remain  out  in  the  wilderness  of  the 
world  there  is  no  promise  of  bread  for  us. 

All  the  immense  and  subtle  benefits  of  organization 
and  social  fellowshij)  are  realized  in  tho  church,  and 
we  deprive  ourselves  of  these  and  cnnnnt  live  the  (Chris- 
tian life  so  fruit  fnllv  if  we  cut  ourselves  otY  from  its 

« 

appointed   ordinances.     The   church   is    tho   army   of 


'254      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

Christ  in  which  we  march  under  his  banner  to  the  mnsic 
of  his  call  to  service,  and  if  we  mean  to  be  his  soldiers 
we  should  get  into  the  ranks  and  wear  the  uniform  and 
fight  as  regulars  the  good  fight  of  faith.  Worship  finds 
its  congenial  soil  and  atmosphere  for  growth  and  its 
efficient  means  of  expression  and  service  inside  the 
church,  and  outside  it  is  likely  to  wither  away. 

5.  Esthetic  Element  in  Worship. — The  esthetic  na- 
ture is  closely  related  to  worship,  which  expresses  itself 
in  beauty  as  well  as  in  music.  This  element  flowered  out 
in  Hebrew  worship  in  the  rich  fabrics  and  artistic  con- 
struction of  the  tabernacle,  "  gold,  and  silver,  and 
brass,  and  blue,  and  purple,  and  scarlet,  and  fine  linen, 
and  goats'  hair,  and  rams'  skins  dyed  red,  and  badgers' 
skins,  and  shittim  wood,  oil  for  light,  spices  for  anoint- 
ing oil,  and  sweet  incense,  onyx  stones,  and  stones  to 
be  set  in  the  ephod,  and  in  the  breastplate";  and  in 
the  magnificent  temple  of  Herod  that  stood  with  its 
marble  walls  and  gilded  roof  flashing  in  the  sunlight, 
a  glittering  mass  of  snow  and  gold.  The  temple  service, 
also,  was  elaborate  and  splendid,  w^ith  priests  in  gor- 
geous vestments,  swinging  censors  emitting  perfumed 
incense,  streaming  altars,  a  great  choir  with  antiphonal 
choruses,  accompanied  with  a  full  orchestra.  Jesus 
swept  away  all  this  gorgeous  spectacle  with  one-  wave» 
of  his  hand  as  he  said,  ''  The  hour  cometh,  and  now  is, 
when  the  true  worshippers  shall  worship  the  Father  in 
spirit  and  in  truth."  But  ritualistic  worship  crept 
back  in  time  into  the  Christian  church  and  blossomed 
out  in  St.  Peter's  in  Rome,  another  splendid  temple 
enriched  and  embellished  with  all  the  genius  of  art  and 
treasures  of  the  world. 

Puritanism  reacted  against  this  extreme  ritualism 
and  beauty  in  worship  and  swung  to  the  opposite  pole 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    255 

of  a  plain  meeting-house,  ugly  in  architecture,  bare  of 
comforts,  and  mean  in  its  appointments.  And  the 
service  also  was  stripped  of  ritual  and  musical  accom- 
paniment and  reduced  to  unrelieved  nakedness.  Be- 
tween these  extremes  there  is  a  golden  mean.  Worship 
should  be  worthilv  housed  and  clothed.  A  beautiful 
church,  appropriate  in  architecture,  comfortable  in  its 
appointments,  and  rich  but  tasteful  in  its  adornments, 
is  conducive  to  the  worshipful  spirit.  And  a  beautiful 
service,  orderly  and  chaste  and  reverent,  accompanied 
with  enough  ritual  to  give  some  symbolic  expression  to 
the  mystery  of  religion,  is  also  a  means  of  grace  as  it 
strikes  deep  mystic  chords  in  the  soul.  Beauty  is  bom 
of  God,  all  its  forms  and  colours  flash  out  of  his  heart, 
it  is  his  own  nature  exuding  through  all  the  beauty  of 
the  world.  And  therefore  it  should  not  be  excluded 
from  the  sanctuary  which  is  his  peculiar  dwelling-place 
and  fullest  revelation  on  earth,  but  there  it  should  come 
to  its  most  perfect  and  most  glorious  flower.  There  is 
no  grace  in  ugliness,  and  we  should  no  more  let  secular 
life  have  all  the  beautv  of  the  world  than  we  should  let, 
in  Wesley's  phrase,  "  the  devil  have  all  the  best  tunes." 
Yet  there  is  ever  some  danger  in  connection  with  the 
esthetic  side  of  worship.  There  is  in  human  nature  a 
tendencv  to  substitute  the  outward  beautv  of  form  for 
the  inward  beauty  of  the  soul,  the  symbol  for  the 
spirit.  We  are  disposed  to  think  that  because  we  feel 
good  in  the  church  we  are  good.  The  feeling  may  be 
due  to  the  comfortable  surroundings,  or  to  tlie  spell 
of  the  music;  even  the  preaching,  soinetiiiH»s,  makes 
us  feel  good.  But  whet  her  we  are  good  or  not  de- 
jK'nds,  not  on  how  we  feci  in  llic  iliuirh,  but  on  what 
we  are  an<l  do  after  we  go  out  of  the  chiircli.  The 
church  is  the  Mount  of  Transtiiruration  where  we  see 


256       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

the  glorified  Christ,  but  presently  we  are  to  go  down 
upon  the  plain  where  there  are  many  sick  and  troubled 
folk  to  be  healed  and  much  work  to  be  done.  It  is  the 
upper  chamber  where  we  hold  blessed  fellowship  with 
Christ  and  with  one  another,  but  it  is  no  place  to  stay, 
and  presently,  as  did  Jesus  and  his  disciples,  we  shall 
sing  a  hymn  and  go  out;  out  into  the  hostile  world 
where  our  worship  will  begin  its  work  and  its  reality 
be  tested.  A  beautiful  service  in  the  church  can  never 
take  the  place  of  beautiful  service  in  the  world;  and 
a  picture  of  Christ,  wrought  in  rich  colours  in  a 
stained  glass  window,  can  never  be  substituted  for  the 
image  of  Christ  in  the  heart.  Leonardo  da  Vinci  swept 
the  golden  goblets  from  the  table  of  his  "  Last  Supper  " 
because  he  feared  that  their  splendour  would  distract 
attention  from  and  dim  the  glory  of  the  Master  him- 
self, and  we  should  ever  be  on  our  guard  against  the 
same  subtle  danger.  We  should  have  beauty  in  the 
church,  but  it  should  be  such  as  will  minister  grace 
to  us  and  help  to  "  let  the  beauty  of  the  Lord  our  God 
be  upon  us.'' 

V.   Work 

From  worship  we  pass  to  work  as  a  means  and  form 
of  the  Christian  life.  Great  emphasis  is  put  all  through 
the  Scriptures  and  in  all  religious  teaching  on  obedi- 
ence and  work  as  conditions  and  duties  of  the  Christian 
life,  and  this  is  true  psychology. 

I.  For  Our  Own  Sake. — We  are  to  engage  in  Chris- 
tian service,  first,  as  a  means  of  our  own  life.  Obedi- 
ence or  practice  is  a  chief  means  of  knowledge  and  skill 
and  efficiency  in  all  fields.  It  may  be  affirmed,  in  short, 
that  we  do  not  know  anything  well  until  we  do  it. 
Theoretical  knowledge  lacks  clearness  and  certainty 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    257 

and  efiSciency  until  it  is  transformed  into  practical 
knowledge.  "  Truth  is  that  which  works,"  says  prag- 
matism, and  as  a  rule  we  do  not  know  a  truth  until  we 
know  it  working  in  experience.  We  may  study  the 
theory  of  a  subject  in  a  book,  but  we  shall  not  really 
understand  the  matter  until  we  translate  it  out  of  the 
book  into  practice.  Book  knowledge  of  astronomy  will 
not  make  one  an  astronomer,  or  of  chemistry  will  not 
make  one  a  chemist.  One  can  study  music  as  a  theory 
and  go  deep  into  its  intricate  tonal  forms  and  rela- 
tions and  yet  not  be  able  to  sing  a  note  or  strike  a 
chord.  Only  by  long  and  patient  practice  can  the 
musician  master  the  art  of  singing  or  of  playing  the 
instrument  so  that  he  can  sweep  the  bow  over  the 
strings  or  his  fingers  over  the  keys  with  astonishing 
rapidity  and  accuracy  and  ease  and  pour  music  forth 
in  floods  from  his  soul.  Music  is  thus  wrought  into 
the  texture  of  his  nerves  and  becomes  his  uncon- 
scious habit  and  the  instrument  becomes  a  part  of  his 
muscular  system  and  an  extension  of  his  personality. 
All  art  is  thus  acquired  through  the  persistent  drill 
that  translates  theory  into  skill  and  rules  into  habits. 
This  familiar  principle  applies  with  special  force  to 
religion.  Religion  as  a  theory  or  system  of  doctrines 
is  set  forth  in  theology  and  in  creeds,  and  the  Chris- 
tian religion  is  revealed  and  illustrated  in  the  Hible. 
But  this  truth  passes  into  our  religious  character  and 
fonduct  and  life  only  as  we  act  upon  it  in  obedience 
and  service.  Faith  and  faillifulness,  reverence  and 
righteousness,  patience  and  j)eac€»,  goodness  and  gentle- 
ness, sympathy  and  sacrifice,  unselfishness  and  love, 
kindness  and  courtesy  l)econie  our  sjjirit  and  spe<^ch 
and  unconscious  habils  only  as  we  constantly  practise 
them.     Reading  about  patience  and  analyzing  its  pay- 


258      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

chology  will  never  make  us  patient  unless  we  practise 
patience  under  provocation.  Faith  in  God  as  a  theory 
never  becomes  faith  in  fact  unless  we  exercise  it  in  the 
strain  and  temptation  of  life.  But  just  as  we  acquire 
music  or  any  other  art  through  practice  and  thus  work 
it  into  our  very  nerves,  so  do  we  acquire  the  graces  of 
the  spirit  and  transmute  them  into  automatic  habits. 
Therefore  we  are  bidden :  "  Work  out  your  salvation 
with  fear  and  trembling;  for  it  is  God  who  worketh  in 
you  both  to  will  and  to  work,  for  his  good  pleasure." 
While  God  works  his  salvation  in  us  we  are  to  work  it 
out ;  and  thus  our  salvation,  while  it  is  God's  work,  is 
also  the  product  of  our  own  working.  W^e  are  to  work 
it  into  our  character  as  the  musician  works  his  skill 
into  his  nervous  system  as  a  set  of  habits.  Obedience 
is  the  great  organ  of  spiritual  knowledge.  "  If  any 
man  willeth  to  do  his  will,  he  shall  know  of  the  teach- 
ing, whether  it  is  of  God,  or  whether  I  speak  from  my- 
self." "  If  ye  know  these  things,  blessed  are  ye  if  ye  do 
them."  We  are  thus  to  serve  in  order  that  we  may  be 
saved,  for  only  through  the  obedience  of  service  can 
salvation  be  realized  as   a  fact. 

2.  For  the  Sake  of  Others. — Salvation  is  not  simply 
an  individual  gift  and  attainment,  but  it  is  also  a  social 
blessing.  We  are  saved  to  serve,  and  we  work  out  our 
salvation  only  as  we  do  serve.  We  can  get  it  only  as 
we  give  it.  In  this  respect  it  is  like  truth  and  all 
mental  and  spiritual  goods.  Material  goods  are  limited 
in  quantity,  and  by  as  much  as  we  give  of  our  store  to 
others  we  have  so  much  less.  If  one  has  a  hundred  dol- 
lars and  gives  fifty  away,  he  has  only  fifty  left.  But 
if  one  possesses  a  truth  and  imparts  it  to  another  he 
does  not  have  less  truth,  but  more.  The  act  of  impart- 
ing it  to  others  clears  it  up  and  deepens  and  intensifies 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     259 

it  in  his  own  mind.  The  teacher  is  always  his  own  best 
scholar  and  is  learning  more  than  any  other  one  in  the 
class.  In  imparting  truth  it  is  literally  true  that  it  is 
more  blessed  to  give  than  to  receive,  because  the  process 
of  giving  brings  in  a  richer  return  of  mental  wealth 
and  power.  So  is  it  with  faith  and  patience  and  peace, 
with  goodness  and  gentleness,  with  kindness  and 
courtesy,  with  sympathy  and  love,  service  and  sacrifice: 
as  we  bestow  these  fine  goods  upon  others,  even  upon 
those  who  may  seem  unworthy  of  them,  and  even  when 
we  pour  them  forth  with  spendthrift  carelessness  and 
lavish  prodigality,  we  get  them  back  in  a  multiplied 
harvest,  as  the  seed  buried  and  lost  in  the  ground  re- 
turns a  hundredfold.  In  fact,  it  is  only  as  we  give 
patience  that  we  can  get  patience,  and  so  with  all  the 
fruits  of  the  Spirit :  they  are  social  virtues  that  we  can 
get  only  as  we  give  them.  And  so  the  paradoxical  but 
literal  law  of  growth  in  the  Christian  life  is:  ''Give, 
and  it  shall  be  given  unto  you ;  good  measure,  pressed 
down,  and  shaken  together,  running  over,  shall  they 
give  into  your  bosom.  For  with  what  measure  ye  mete 
it  shall  be  measured  to  you  again." 

The  builder  of  anv  work  is  alwavs  at  the  same  time 
unconsciously  building  himself.  The  builder  of  a  house 
is  also  simultaneously  erect in^jr  the  structure  of  his 
own  character.  If  he  is  putting  sound  materials  and 
honest  workmansliij)  into  the  house,  he  is  building  the 
same  spiritual  elements  into  his  soul;  and  if  he  is 
slipping  poor  materials  and  dishonest  work  int«)  the 
building,  he  is  framing  rotten  elements  into  his  life. 
The  artist  in  working  at  his  canvas  is  at  the  same  tinio 
painting  the  portrait  of  his  character  in  the  gallery 
of  his  soul.  Kvery  one's  outer  life  returns  into  and 
deposits  itself  in  his  inner  life;  whatever  he  is  d(»ing 


260      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

to  others  he  is  doing  to  himself.  The  Christian  is  sub- 
ject to  the  same  spiritual  law.  As  he  builds  others  up 
in  faith  and  righteousness  and  goodness  and  peace  he 
is  building  himself  up  in  the  same  virtues.  By  as  much 
as  he  makes  others  Christians  does  he  become  a  better 
Christian  himself.  As  he  transforms  others  into  the 
image  of  Christ  he  is  himself  transfigured  into  the  same 
likeness.  The  law  of  Christian  growth  is  that  in  sav- 
ing others  we  save  ourselves,  in  laying  down  our  life 
we  take  it  up  again,  in  losing  our  soul  we  save  it. 
We  are  not  to  save  others  in  order  that  we  may  save 
ourselves:  any  such  selfish  motive,  however  secretly 
hidden  in  the  soul,  would  spoil  the  beauty  and  destroy 
the  reflex  blessing  of  such  service;  but  when  we  sin- 
cerely and  with  no  thought  of  return  lose  our  lives  in 
the  service  of  others  we  get  them  back  more  perfectly 
wrought  into  the  image  of  Christ  and  enriched  a  hun- 
dredfold. 

3.  The  Call  to  Service. — The  Christian  call  to  social 
service,  which  began  with  the  beginning  of  the  gospel 
and  has  come  down  to  us  through  the  ages,  is  receiving 
Increased  emphasis  in  our  day  and  has  opening  before 
it  wider  fields  and  more  splendid  visions  than  ever  in 
the  past.  "  The  field  is  the  world  "  now  in  a  literal 
sense,  and  John  Wesley's  parish  has  become  the  parish 
of  every  intelligent  and  faithful  Christian.  This  field 
begins  in  the  centre  of  the  home  and  sweeps  out  through 
successive  widening  circles  until  it  encompasses  the 
earth.  The  world  has  been  unified  and  reduced  in  size 
until  it  has  become  a  handy  and  quite  manageable 
world  that  we  can  turn  and  control  almost  as  we  twirl 
a  geographical  globe  with  our  fingers.  And  so  we  are 
now  citizens  of  the  world,  cosmopolitans,  and  the  Chris- 
tian has  a  field  and  opportunity  of  which  Paul  and  the 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    261 

apostles  never  dreamed.  This  unified  world  is  one  rea- 
son that  we  can  fulfil  Christ's  own  promise  and 
prophecy,  "  Verilj,  verilj,  I  say  unto  you,  He  that 
believeth  on  me,  the  works  that  I  do  shall  he  do  also; 
and  greater  works  than  these  shall  he  do." 

Christians  are  sometimes  charged  with  being  too 
much  concerned  with  the  other  world,  as  though  they 
were  mere  dreamers  and  visionaries  that  stand  gazing 
into  the  sky  and  looking  for  the  golden  city  in  the  glory 
land  above.  They  do  indeed  look  for  a  celestial  city 
which  hath  foundations,  whose  builder  and  maker  is 
God,  but  they  are  also  building  a  copy  of  that  city 
down  on  this  earth.  We  are  even  now  rearing  its 
jewelled  walls  around  our  horizon  and  laying  its  golden 
pavements  right  under  our  feet.  This  is  the  meaning  of 
all  our  Christian  worship  and  work.  Our  preaching 
and  teaching,  schools  and  colleges,  education  and  sani- 
tation, industrial  improvement,  civic  welfare,  political 
reform,  national  righteousness,  and  our  growing  inter- 
national consciousness  and  conscience,  home  missions 
and  foreign  missions,  what  are  all  these  but  means  of 
building  the  kingdom  of  God  on  earth?  We  are  to 
cure  all  the  ills  of  the  world  and  moralize  and  spiritual- 
ize its  whole  social  order.  ^'  Holiness  unto  the  Lord  '* 
is  to  be  inscribed  on  the  bells  of  the  horses,  and 
whether  we  eat  or  drink,  pray  or  play,  we  are  to  do  all 
to  the  glory  of  God.  We  are  to  beat  our  swords  into 
ploughshares  and  turn  all  the  terrible  engines  of  war 
into  instruments  of  industry.  We  are  to  provide  the 
means  and  opportunity  of  n  decent  and  wholesome  and 
hnj)py  life  for  every  Iniinau  l)oing.  And  thus  we  are  to 
apply  the  gospel  along  all  lines  so  as  to  cleanse  this 
world  and  rebuild  it  into  the  beautiful  city  of  God  on 
earth. 


262      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

This  is  the  supreme  call  and  splendid  opportunity 
of  our  time,  and  it  is  the  greatest  and  noblest  work  in 
the  world.  We  are  proud  of  our  national  enterprise 
at  Panama  in  breaking  through  the  backbone  of  the 
continent  and  letting  two  oceans  kiss  each  other  in 
common  trade  and  travel.  But  how  this  great  achieve- 
ment shrinks  into  insignificance  in  comparison  with  the 
vastly  greater  enterprise  of  breaking  down  all  barriers 
that  divide  humanity  and  letting  the  whole  world  flow 
together  in  one  universal  sea  of  brotherhood  and  pros- 
perity and  peace.  We  are  always  impressed  with  the 
statement  that  the  sun  never  sets  on  the  British  Em- 
pire, and  yet  this  empire  is  only  a  few  red  patches  on 
the  map  compared  with  this  kingdom  which  envelops 
the  globe  around  the  equator  and  from  pole  to  pole. 
This  work  overshadows  all  the  world,  gathers  into 
itself  all  empires,  and  is  the  only  world  vision  that  is 
marching  towards  victory. 

This  vision  is  the  tremendous  inspiration  and  power 
of  the  Christian  life.  Any  great  work  tends  to  make 
us  great,  and  any  small  work  tends  to  make  us  small. 
A  man  that  would  devote  his  life  to  carving  heads  on 
cherry  seeds  would  presently  have  a  cherry-seed  head; 
but  as  we  climb  a  mountain  the  mountain  puts  its 
greatness  under  us,  lifts  us  into  a  purer  atmosphere 
and  wider  vision,  and  imparts  to  us  some  of  its  own 
majesty  and  mystery.  The  kingdom  of  God  is  incom- 
parably the  greatest  mountain  of  vision  in  the  world; 
and  as  we  climb  it,  it  lifts  us  out  of  our  low  lives,  sub- 
merged in  the  murky  atmosphere  of  the  world,  into 
a  clearer  air  and  a  more  splendid  prospect ;  and  it  espe- 
cially lifts  us  out  of  our  little  ruts  and  holes,  out  of 
our  petty  complaints  and  grievances  and  aches  which 
are  largely  subjective  and  would  vanish  if  we  would 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     263 

simply  forget  them,  into  the  life  that  is  lost  in  some 
worthy  purpose  and  noble  enthusiasm,  into  the  life  that 
is  hid  with  Christ  in  God.  A  life  lived  on  such  a 
mountain  has  more  daylight  than  there  is  down  in  the 
valleys  of  the  world,  it  breathes  a  purer  air  and  is 
closer  to  the  stars;  and  the  Christians  that  live  there 
grow  taller  and  stronger,  they  are  larger  men  with 
more  breadth  and  brightness  of  vision,  they  are  more 
efficient  and  fruitful  in  service,  and  they  are  more  like 
Christ  as  he  stood  upon  the  Mount  of  Transfiguration. 
While  the  followers  of  Christ  are  thus  building  a  Chris- 
tian world  he  is  fashioning  them  into  his  own  likeness. 
"  If  ye  know  these  things,  blessed  are  ye  if  ye  do 
them.'^ 

VI.    Imagination 

The  picturing  power  of  the  mind,  that  is  such  a  magic 
wand  in  the  hand  of  the  novelist  and  artist,  is  not  less 
potent  in  the  field  of  religion  and  in  i>ei'Sonal  growth 
in  the  Christian  life. 

I.  Makes  Truth  Vivid. — Imagination  makes  truth 
and  life  vivid  by  presenting  them  in  the  form  of  mental 
images  and  j>ictui'es  instinct  with  reality.  Religious 
truth  is  apt  to  be  abstract  and  dry:  imagination  clothes 
it  with  flesh  and  blood  and  makes  it  live  and  breathe. 
Th'>  great  Teacher  was  a  master  in  the  use  of  the  imagi- 
nation in  his  ministry.  His  parables  were  pictures  of 
the  truth  he  taught.  The  Prodigal  Son  is  a  story  that 
makes  the  trutli  it  embodies  as  real  as  life  itself.  The 
whole  P»ible  is  a  picture  book  of  religious  truth,  and 
this  is  one  oloinent  of  its  inlerost  and  power.  We 
should  learn  to  read  the  P.iltle  in  an  imaginative  mood, 
BO  that  its  scenes  and  sayings  will  start  up  before  us 
and  lay  hold  of  us  as  present  i-ealities.     It  is  through 


264      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

the  gateway  of  the  imagination  that  these  truths  enter 
most  deeply  and  vitally  into  the  soul. 

2.  Corrects  Faults. — Imagination  helps  us  to  correct 
our  faults.  It  first  enables  us  to  see  them,  and  this 
is  half  the  battle  of  winning  a  victory  over  them.  In 
the  familiar  words  of  Burns : 

O  would  some  power  the  giftie  gie  us. 
To  see  ourselves  as  others  see  us, 
It  would  from  many  a  blunder  free  us, 
And  foolish  notion. 

Now  imagination  has  this  power.  It  enables  us  to  get 
out  of  and  look  at  ourselves  and  in  some  degree  ^'  see 
ourselves  as  others  see  us."  If  we  will  only  in  the  quiet- 
ness of  our  own  thoughts  make  a  picture  of  ourselves 
as  we  know  the  reality  to  be,  putting  into  it  our  faults 
of  disposition  and  temper  and  speech,  our  failures  in 
duty,  all  our  sins  of  omission  and  commission,  we 
shall  see  something  that  will  be  closely  like  ourselves. 
The  picture  will  not  be  all  bad,  of  course,  for  it  will 
contain  much  good  for  which  we  may  be  truly  thankful. 
But  it  will  also  present  such  defects  as  will  make  it 
unlovely  and  blameworthy  in  many  respects  and  may 
well  give  us  a  sense  of  humiliation  and  shame.  We 
may  be  startled  at  the  sight  and  feel  that  we  did  not 
know  ourselves:  if  so,  it  is  time  to  get  acquainted. 
Some  persons  in  the  blindness  of  their  conceit  and 
folly  are  living  with  fictitious  persons  and  have  never 
seen  their  real  selves.  We  should  make  haste  to  get 
out  of  any  such  fool's  paradise  into  the  land  of  clear 
vision  and  reality.  This  is  what  the  prodigal  son  did 
when  out  by  the  swine  troughs  "  he  came  to  himself." 
He  saw  himself  as  he  was :  imagination  showed  him  a 
photograph  of  his  soul.    This  seeing  ourselves  is  the 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    265 

first  condition  of  correcting  our  faults.  When  we  see 
them  our  conscience  may  be  pricked  with  conviction 
and  we  will  resolve  to  root  them  out. 

3.  Builds  Up  Christian  Character. — In  the  same  way, 
imagination  helps  to  build  us  up  in  Christian  char- 
acter. It  has  the  imperial  power  of  creating  an  ideal, 
a  pattern  of  what  we  would  like  to  be.  Let  not  our 
ideal  be  any  visionary  and  impracticable  dream,  as  of 
great  v/ealth  or  position  or  fame:  such  dreams  will 
make  us  feverish  and  discontented  and  are  almost  sure 
to  be  disappointed  and  may  leave  us  embittered.  Let  us 
keep  our  ideal  well  within  reasonable  bounds,  and  espe- 
cially let  us  construct  it  of  moral  elements.  We  should 
picture  ourselves  as  we  are  with  our  gifts  and  oppor- 
tunities and  duties  and  inquire.  What  should  such  a 
person  be?  Into  this  ideal  let  us  put  truth  and  right- 
eousness as  the  foundation  elements,  the  bones  of  the 
man  we  are  going  to  build;  then  let  us  put  in  an  in- 
telligent growing  mind  and  a  good  heart,  pure  in  its 
purposes  and  passions,  free  from  selfishness  and  hatred 
and  meanness,  sympathetic  and  generous  in  disposition, 
cheerful  and  sunny  in  temperament ;  then  let  us  put  in  a 
strong  will  that  can  control  all  our  energies  and  desires 
and  give  us  patience  and  power  and  peace;  then  let  us 
put  in  faithfulness  in  duty,  doing  everything  we  ought 
to  do  in  the  best  way  we  can;  finally,  let  us  put  in,  as 
the  very  core  and  heart  of  this  man,  faith  in  God  and 
a  Christlike  mind:  and  the  result  will  be  an  ideal 
self.  Let  imagination  c(mstruct  this  portrait  carefully 
and  dwell  on  it  lovingly,  look  up  to  this  heavenly  vision, 
become  enainoured  and  charmed  with  this  l)otter  self, 
see  the  !)eautv  and  blessedness  of  this  nobler  soul,  and 
then  let  us  resolve  to  bend  every  energy  towards  realiz- 
ing it,  and  we  shall  grow  towards  il.    Imagination  is  im- 


266       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

proving  men  in  every  field  of  achievement  by  setting 
up  before  them  higher  ideals.  Precisely  the  same  proc- 
ess will  make  us  better  Christians.  Let  us  set  before 
us  an  improved  edition  of  ourselves,  a  more  perfect 
personality,  and  then  work  towards  it  as  a  mechanic 
works  towards  his  pattern  or  an  artist  towards  his 
vision ;  let  us  ever  look  unto  Jesus,  the  author  and  fin- 
isher of  our  faith,  striving  to  acquire  his  purity  and 
patience  and  peace,  his  spirit  of  sympathy  and  service 
and  sacrifice:  so  shall  we  grow  into  his  likeness,  and 
in  doing  this  we  shall  attain  unto  our  highest  and  best 
self. 

Let  imagination  have  its  perfect  work,  and  it  will 
show  us  the  truth  vividly,  clear  us  of  faults,  and  de- 
velop us  unto  a  perfect  man. 

VII.    Habit 

We  have  already  seen  the  nature  and  value  of  habit,^ 
and  this  principle  of  our  constitution  is  a  necessary  and 
fruitful  means  of  the  Christian  life. 

I.  The  Value  of  Habit  in  Religion. — Habit  trains 
us  into  regular,  easy,  and  accurate  ways  of  doing 
things,  releases  us  from  debate  and  hesitation,  efi^ort 
and  worry,  sets  us  free  to  attend  to  novel  situations, 
and  lubricates  life  into  delightful  smoothness  and  lib- 
erty and  joy.  Habitual  religion  is  ever  the  best;  re- 
ligion that  has  become  habit  and  acts  automatically 
and  spontaneously.  Jesus  "  entered,  as  his  custom  was, 
into  the  synagogue  on  the  sabbath  day."  He  went  to 
church  by  habit  and  not  by  circumstance  and  caprice; 
and  w^e  shall  attain  to  strength  and  fruitfulness  and 
joy  in  the  Christian  life  in  proportion  as  we  develop 
the  same  spirit  and  practice. 

^Pp.  Cl-63. 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     267 

We  do  not  do  a  thing  well  until  we  do  it  without 
thinking  how.  No  one  is  a  good  mechanic  who  must 
think  about  how  to  hold  his  tool;  and  no  one  has  good 
manners  who  is  conscious  of  his  manners.  Not  until 
the  hand  has  forgotten  the  painstaking  processes  by 
which  it  was  trained  does  it  have  true  skill.  The 
musician  must  practise  long  that  he  may  play  without 
practice.  Unconsciousness  of  self  is  the  final  touch  of 
perfection.  So  a  Christian  grace  has  not  been  thor- 
oughly wrought  into  us  until  it  acts  unconsciously.'* 
When  in  vexation  we  must  call  upon  our  patience  to 
come  and  help  us  out,  we  have  not  yet  learned  perfect 
patience.  We  ought  to  be  patient  without  thinking 
about  it  or  knowing  that  we  are  patient.  When  in  a 
matter  of  conscience  we  must  run  after  conscience  and 
wake  it  up  and  drag  it  into  the  case,  our  ethical  sense 
is  not  yet  well  trained.  Conscience  ought  to  act  with- 
out being  asked,  or  our  thinking  about  it.  Must  an 
honest  man  try  to  be  honest?  No,  he  will  be  honest 
without  trying.  Faith  that  must  ever  be  worked  with 
and  prodded  into  action  is  a  weak  faith.  When  a  man 
must  keep  working  with  his  stomach  and  hiugs  and 
liver  he  has  a  poor  set  of  vital  organs;  the  healthy  man 
does  not  know  that  he  has  any  insides.  So  when  we 
must  keep  working  with  our  virtues  they  have  not  yet 
been  educated  into  the  perfection  in  wliich  they  will 
act  spontaneously.  It  is  true  that  we  can  reach  such 
perfection  only  through  long  discipline.  "We  must  try 
hard  tliat  we  niav  do  without  trving.  Moses  '*  wist  not 
that  his  face  slione."  He  was  filled  with  the  glory  of 
God  and  then  he  forgot  himself. 

2.    Four   Rules   on    Habits. — Prof.    William    James 
has  a  famous  chapter  *  on  Haiti t  in  which  lie  lays  down 

*  Tlic  I'rinripUs  of  Psychology,  Vol.  I,  C'liuptiT  IV. 


268       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

four  rules  for  the  formation  of  habits,  and  these  apply 
equally  well  to  our  religious  life,  which  covers  all  life. 

(a)  The  first  rule  is:  "  In  the  acquisition  of  a  new 
habit,  or  the  leaving  off  of  an  old  one,  we  must  take 
care  to  launch  ourselves  with  as  strong  and  decided  an 
initiative  as  possible."  In  other  words,  begin  with  all 
your  might.  When  we  start  in  upon  any  line  of  con- 
duct with  half-hearted  decision  and  effort,  we  are  not 
likely  to  go  far:  hindrances  will  easily  discourage  us 
and  turn  us  back.  But  when  we  feel  the  importance  of 
the  new  course  of  action  and  gather  up  and  concen- 
trate all  our  energies  in  the  first  step,  we  are  likely 
to  start  off  with  such  decision  and  momentum  that  we 
shall  not  lightly  be  stopped  but  will  keep  on.  The 
stronger  the  explosion  behind  the  bullet,  the  farther 
it  will  fly.  This  means  that  we  should  enter  upon  the 
Christian  life  with  our  whole  mind  and  soul  and 
strength  and  burn  all  our  bridges  behind  us;  and  we 
should  also  enter  upon  the  habitual  duties  of  the  Chris- 
tian life,  such  as  prayer  and  obedience,  with  the  same 
whole-hearted  and  irrevocable  decision. 

In  further  elucidation  of  this  rule  Professor  James 
says :  "  Accumulate  all  the  possible  circumstances  which 
shall  reenforce  the  right  motives;  put  yourself  assidu- 
ously in  conditions  that  encourage  the  new  way ;  make 
engagements  incompatible %ith  the  old;  take  a  public 
pledge,  if  the  case  allows;  in  short,  envelop  your  reso- 
lution with  every  aid  you  know.  This  will  give  your 
new  beginning  such  a  momentum  that  the  temptation 
to  break  down  will  not  occur  as  soon  as  it  otherwise 
might."  These  directions  all  admit  of  easy  transla- 
tion into  religious  terms.  Three  things  are  here  enu- 
merated as  means  for  carrying  out  this  rule.  First, 
intensify  the  right  motives:  consider  all  the  facts  and 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    269 

aspects  of  sin  and  salvation,  doctrine  and  life,  faith 
and  fruit;  brood  over  them  until  they  root  themselves 
deep  in  the  heart  and  grow  into  their  true  proportion 
and  power  and  take  full  possession  of  the  will  and 
move  it  with  their  might ;  and  then  we  can  enter  upon 
the  beginning  and  upon  all  the  duties  of  the  Christian 
life  under  such  pressure  and  momentum  that  we  shall 
not  easily  be  turned  back. 

The  next  condition  is  that  we  put  ourselves  "  assidu- 
ously in  conditions  that  encourage  the  new  way  " :  that 
means  that  we  should  go  to  church  and  prayer-meeting 
and  keep  ourselves  in  a  Christian  atmosphere  under 
Christian  influences.  "  The  use  of  the  means  of  grace  " 
is  the  way  we  ordinarily  express  this  fact;  ^^  not  for- 
saking the  assembling  of  ourselves  together "  is  the 
way  the  Bible  expresses  it;  "put  yourself  assiduously 
in  conditions  that  favour  the  new  way  "  is  the  way 
the  psychologist  expresses  it;  and  these  three  mean 
the  same  thing. 

And  the  third  condition  is:  "Take  a  public  pledge, 
if  the  case  allows."  In  religion,  "  the  case  allows." 
Confession  by  the  mouth  is  one  of  the  primary  duties 
of  the  Christian  life  insisted  on  in  the  Scriptures,  by 
no  one  more  emphatically  and  solemnly  than  by  Jesus 
himself.  Many  people  think  and  say,  "  Why  cannot  I 
be  a  Christian  without  saying  anything  about  it  and 
without  joining  the  church?"  Because  the  Bible  says, 
"  If  thou  shalt  confess  with  thv  mouth,  and  slialt  be- 
lieve  in  thine  heart,  thou  shalt  be  saved,"  and  because 
the  psychologist  says,  "Take  a  pul)lic  pkMlge."  Scrip- 
ture and  science,  apostle  and  psychologist  here  agree. 
Such  a  public  pledge  is  a  strong  initiative  that  com- 
mits one  to  the  Christian  life  with  such  decision  and 
force  as  will  help  him  to  be  faithful   to  the  end. 


270      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

(&)  The  second  rule  is:  ^^ Never  suffer  an  exception 
to  occur  till  the  neio  habit  is  securely  rooted  in  your 
life.  Each  lapse  is  like  the  letting  fall  of  a  ball  of 
string  which  one  is  carefully  winding  up;  a  single  slip 
undoes  more  than  a  great  many  turns  will  wind  again." 
In  illustration  of  this  rule  President  H.  C.  King  quotes 
from  a  book  on  elocution  this  advice  to  public  speakers : 
"  Dash  cold  water  on  your  throat  every  morning  when 
you  wash,  for  365,  not  364,  mornings  of  the  year."  ^ 
There  are  many  things  in  the  Christian  life  to  which 
this  rule  applies  without  any  exception.  Truth,  hon- 
esty, purity,  patience,  kindness,  love — we  are  to  prac- 
tise these  thing  always  and  everywhere,  "  for  365,  not 
364,  mornings  of  the  year."  One  single  exception  In 
these  things  lets  slip  our  ball  of  string  and  unwinds 
more  than  we  can  wind  up  in  many  turns.  Every  one 
knows  how  fatal  it  is  to  let  the  ball  of  Christian  char- 
acter drop  and  how  hard  it  is  to  get  it  wound  up  again. 
The  safeguard  against  this  ill  result  is  never  to  suffer 
an  exception  in  these  virtues,  but  to  practise  them  three 
hundred  and  sixty-five  days  of  the  year  and  twenty-four 
hours  of  the  day.  Rubinstein  said  that  if  he  omitted 
his  piano  practice  for  one  day,  he  noticed  it ;  if  for  two 
days,  the  critics  noticed  it;  and  if  for  three  days,  the 
public  noticed  it.  We  should  be  equally  careful  of  and 
sensitive  to  our  practise  of  the  Christian  graces. 

Other  things  in  the  Christian  life,  such  as  the  means 
of  grace,  the  Bible  and  prayer  and  church  and  prayer- 
meeting,  while  they  may  be  omitted  in  exceptional  cir- 
cumstances when  necessary  hindrances  or  other  duties 
interfere  with  them,  yet  ought  also  to  be  brought  under 
this  general  rule.  Our  use  of  these  means  of  grace 
ought  not  to  be  subject  to  our  convenience  and  feel- 

^  Rational  Living,  by  Henry  Churchill  King,  p.  92. 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     271 

ing,  to  the  weather  and  our  wardrobe,  but  they  should 
be  attended  to  by  the  almanac  and  the  clock.  Our  rule 
should  be  to  suffer  no  exception  in  these  things  unless 
forced  upon  us  by  necessity  and  duty.  Such  unfail- 
ing regularity  will  fasten  the  habit  of  them  upon  us 
until  they  become  our  spontaneous  life  and  joy. 

(c)  The  third  rule  is:  ^^ Seize  the  very  first  possihle 
opportunity  to  act  on  every  resolution  you  make,  and 
on  every  emotional  prompting  you  may  experience  in 
the  direction  of  the  habits  you  aspire  to  gain."  This 
rule  warns  us  against  feeling  emotions  and  making 
resolutions  without  carrying  them  out  into  action. 
Such  wasted  emotions  and  resolutions  weaken  us  so 
that  we  respond  less  promptly  and  energetically  the 
next  time,  and  finally  cannot  respond  at  all.  "  The 
habit  of  excessive  novel-reading  and  theatre-going,-' 
says  our  psychologist,  ''  will  produce  true  monsters  in 
this  line.  The  weeping  of  a  Russian  lady  over  the  fic- 
titious personages  in  the  play,  while  her  coachman  is 
freezing  to  death  on  his  seat  outside,  is  the  sort  of 
thing  that  everywhere  happens  on  a  less  glaring  scale." 
This  is  one  of  the  dangers  of  revival  seasons — much 
emotion  and  little  obedience.  This  is  even  one  of  the 
dangers  of  listening  to  sernums — iuu<h  hearing  and 
little  doing  of  the  word.  Some  people  are  so  sermon- 
soaked  that  they  shed  all  religious  truth  and  do 
nothing. 

So  important  is  the  turning  of  our  feeling  into  action 
that  Trofessor  James  says:  "Let  the  expression  l>e 
the  least  thing  in  the  world — speaking  genially  to  one's 
aunt,  or  giving  np  one's  seat  in  a  horse-car,  if  noth- 
ing more  heroic  oilers — but  let  il  not  fail  to  take 
place."  Act  I  act  I  is  the  urgent  admonition  of  this  rule. 
Do  not  think  that  mere  fine  feelings  or  good  resolu- 


272      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

tiong  have  saving  virtue  or  any  virtue  in  themselves, 
but  turn  these  as  streams  of  energy  upon  the  will  and 
set  the  life  agoing  in  practical  obedience  and  service. 
No  habit  has  any  vitality  and  strength  until  it  is 
rooted  down  in  our  lives  and  bears  fruit. 

(d)  The  fourth  rule  is:  ^^ Keep  the  faculty  of  effort 
alive  in  you  hy  a  little  gratuitous  exercise  every  day. 
That  is,  be  systematically  ascetic  or  heroic  in  little 
unnecessary  points,  do  every  day  or  two  something  for 
no  other  reason  than  that  you  would  rather  not  do  it, 
so  that  when  the  hour  of  dire  need  draws  nigh  it  may 
find  you  not  unnerved  and  untrained  to  stand  the  test.'' 
Professor  James  ingeniously  likens  such  asceticism  to 
"  the  insurance  which  a  man  pays  on  his  house  and 
goods.  The  tax  does  him  no  good  at  the  time,  and  pos- 
sibly may  never  bring  him  a  return.  But  if  the  fire 
does  come,  his  having  paid  it  will  be  his  salvation  from 
ruin.  So  with  the  man  who  has  daily  inured  himself 
to  habits  of  concentrated  attention,  energetic  volition, 
and  self-denial  in  unnecessary  things.  He  will  stand 
like  a  tower  when  everything  rocks  around  him,  and 
when  his  softer  fellow-mortals  are  winnowed  like  chaff 
in  the  blast." 

This  rule  warns  us  against  indulgence  in  relaxing 
a  habit  after  we  have  acquired  it.  We  must  keep  our 
habit  "  in  condition,"  as  the  athlete  keeps  himself 
in  condition  by  gratuitous  exercise  every  day.  One 
of  our  most  frequent  and  most  subtle  temptations  is  to 
be  governed  by  our  sense  of  ease  and  relax  our  habits 
when  we  think  we  are  safe  in  them.  Philip  Gilbert 
Hamerton,  in  his  delightful  book  on  The  Intellectual 
Life,  remarks  that  if  we  once  take  to  excusing  our- 
selves from  duty  on  the  ground  of  our  feeling,  "  we  will 
find  that  kind  of  inspiration  coming  pretty  often." 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     273 

But  we  are  never  safe  in  relaxing  habits  and  must 
keep  up  their  tonicity  by  exercising  them  on  the  mar- 
gin of  effort  where  they  still  require  of  us  some  un- 
pleasant, if  not  painful,  exertion.  This  means  that  we 
should  do  some  things — for  example  speak  kindly  to  one 
who  does  not  like  us  or  whom  we  do  not  like,  or  go  to 
prayer-meeting  on  a  wet  night — if  for  no  other  reason 
than  that  we  are  determined  to  keep  ourselves  in  good 
ethical  condition  and  maintain  our  habits  at  their  best. 
These  are  the  rules  of  a  master  psychologist,  who 
says  their  "  ethical  implications  are  numerous  and 
momentous,"  and  applied  to  our  Christian  life  they  will 
develop  in  us  such  habits  as  will  make  it  regular  and 
certain,  smooth  and  delightful,  fruitful  and  masterful. 

VIII.    Christ  in  Us 

We  have  not  yet  reached  the  real  root  of  the  Christian 
life.  Paul  possessed  and  expressed  this  root  when  he 
testified,  ''  Christ  liveth  in  me.''  The  Spirit  of  Christ 
had  taken  possession  of  Paul  so  as  to  become  his  deep- 
est disposition  and  dominant  motive.  Whatever  Paul 
was  thinking  or  doing,  however  great  or  small,  he  was 
acting  out  his  Christian  disposition  and  doing  the  work 
of  Christ  in  the  world. 

I.  Negative  Aspects  of  the  Christian  Life. — This 
enables  us  to  define  the  essence  of  the  Christian  life, 
and  first  to  discriminate  it  negatively  from  certain 
means  to  this  end. 

(a)  The  Christian  life  does  not  consist  in  the  ob- 
servance of  i-eligious  forms.  KcK'ping  the  Sabbath,  read- 
ing the  I'.ible,  going  to  church  and  ofioring  prayer  and 
singing  hymns  are  not  Christianity  and  do  not  in 
themselves  make  a  Christian.  They  are  useful  and 
even  necessary  means  to  this  end,  but  they  are  no  more 


274       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

the  Christian  life  itself  than  ploughs  and  harrows  are 
wheat  and  corn.  These  are  the  external  forms  and 
means  of  religion,  but  they  may  flourish  in  full  bloom 
and  ostentatious  display,  as  among  the  Pharisees,  and 
yet  have  no  genuine  Christian  spirit  and  fruit.  It  may 
be  easy  and  congenial  for  us  to  wear  these  trappings 
of  religion  on  the  outside  of  our  lives  and  let  our  hearts 
remain  unchanged  in  selfishness,  even  as  the  inner  cor- 
ruption of  whitened  sepulchres.  This  has  been  the  most 
common  danger  and  disease  of  the  church  from  the 
time  of  the  Pharisees  to  this  dav.  But  the  Christian 
religion  is  not  an  external  application,  like  a  face 
powder,  but  must  be  taken  inwardly  and  pass  into  the 
blood. 

(6)  Again,  the  Christian  life  does  not  consist  simply 
in  knowledge  about  Christ.  We  put  great  emphasis 
upon  the  duty  of  searching  the  Scriptures  that  we  may 
grow  in  the  knowledge  of  Christ,  and  this  emphasis  is 
put  in  the  right  place,  for  this  truth  is  a  vital  means 
to  the  Christian  life.  Yet  we  should  not  confuse  such 
knowledge  with  the  Christian  life  itself.  Knowledge  of 
music  does  not  make  one  a  musician.  The  most  elo- 
quent writer  on  the  art  of  painting  that  ever  lived  was 
John  Ruskin :  yet  Ruskin  himself  was  no  painter.  He 
knew  how  pictures  ought  to  be  painted,  but  he  could 
not  paint  one  himself.  So  we  may  know  how  the  Chris- 
tian life  ought  to  be  lived  and  yet  not  live  it  ourselves. 
One  of  the  most  finished  and  beautiful  Lives  of  Christ 
ever  written  was  the  work  of  Renan,  a  French  sceptic. 
We  might  know  enough  about  Christ  to  write  his 
Life  learnedly  and  eloquently,  and  yet  not  have  Christ 
in  us. 

(c)  Nor  does  the  Christian  life  consist  simply  in 
moral  education  and  culture.  Polishing  a  piece  of  coal 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     275 

will  never  transmute  it  into  a  diamond,  and  the  finest 
moral  polish  that  can  be  put  upon  human  nature  will 
not  change  the  sinful  heart  into  saintliness.  A  lion 
may  be  tamed  and  trained  until  it  seems  as  innocent 
and  harmless  as  a  kitten  and  as  obedient  as  a  child; 
but  it  is  a  lion  still,  and  at  the  smell  of  blood  will  be 
as  savage  and  bloodthirsty  as  when  it  crouched  in  its 
native  jungle.  So  a  course  of  moral  education  and  con- 
ventional ethics  may  tame  human  nature  until  it  seems 
innocent  and  beautiful ;  but  it  is  unregenerated  human 
nature  still,  and  on  proper  occasion  or  provocation  will 
develop  all  its  original  evil.  Nothing  can  come  out  of 
the  heart  that  has  not  first  been  put  into  it.  Chris- 
tianity first  puts  Christ  in  the  heart,  and  then  the  Spirit 
of  Christ  rules  in  and  over  it  and  issues  in  all  its 
streams. 

(d)  Deeper  still,  the  Christian  life  does  not  consist 
merely  in  imitating  Christ.  It  is  true  that  he  is  our 
perfect  Pattern,  and  imitating  him  is  one  of  the  most 
vital  means  of  the  Christian  life.  Yet  this  imitation 
is  not  to  be  the  mechanical  imitation  of  outward  rules 
and  habits,  but  the  inward  emulation  of  spirit  and 
life.  No  amount  of  external  imitation  will  make  us 
Christians,  just  as  tying  oranges  on  a  tree  will  not 
make  an  orange  tree.  We  might  imitate  the  outward 
appearance  of  Christ's  life  closely,  even  going  to  the 
length  of  wearing  seamless  rol)es  or  washing  one 
another's  feet,  as  some  have  done,  and  yet  be  as  far 
from  him  in  sjMrit  as  the  inner  oornij)ti()n  of  a 
sepulchre  is  from  its  outer  whiteness.  The  outward 
imitation  of  Christ  turns  the  cominaudiuents  into  har- 
ness straps  that  simply  restrain  and  fret  us,  wheivas 
these  commandments  should  be  i\w  inner  laws  of  our 
own  nature  and  operate  as  spontaneously  as  do  the 


276      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

physical  laws  of  the  body.  The  Pharisees  carried  the 
principle  of  outer  imitation  to  its  logical  perfection. 
Their  religion  was  reduced  to  petty  external  rules. 
Nothing  was  done  freely  from  the  heart,  but  everything 
had  to  be  done  by  outer  regulation  and  constriction. 
As  a  consequence  their  religion  was  all  on  the  outside 
as  a  show  and  sham,  a  rotten  interior  glossed  over 
with  external  respectability.  Christ  tore  av/ay  this  sys- 
tem of  superficial  appearance  and  mechanical  con- 
straint and  introduced  inner  reality  and  liberty. 

2.  Positive  Aspects  of  the  Christian  Life. — The 
Christian  life  in  its  positive  nature  consists  in  having 
Christ  within  us,  and  then  we  spontaneously  live  as  he 
lived. 

(a)  To  do  anything  well  we  must  have  its  nature 
within  us.  We  are  told  that  every  important  Greek 
vase  has  been  measured  vertically  and  horizontally 
with  precision  altogether  admirable  and  the  results  pub- 
lished in  four  large  volumes.  "  Yet,''  says  Euskin, 
"  English  pottery  remains  precisely  where  it  was  in 
spite  of  all  this  investigation.  Do  you  fancy  a  Greek 
workman  ever  made  a  vase  by  measurement?  No,  he 
dashed  it  from  his  hand  on  the  wheel  and  it  was  beau- 
tiful. And  a  Venetian  glassblower  swept  you  a  curve 
of  crystal  from  the  end  of  his  pipe ;  and  Keynolds  swept 
a  curve  of  colour  from  his  brush,  as  a  musician  the 
cadence  of  a  note,  unerring,  and  to  be  measured,  if  you 
please,  afterwards,  with  the  exactitude  of  law."  ^  Why 
could  these  men  perform  with  such  marvellous  accuracy 
and  ease  these  rare  feats  which  other  men  cannot  do 
with  the  most  elaborate  measurements  and  painstaking 
imitation?  Because  these  things  were  in  them.  The 
artistic  nature  in  them  shaped  the  vase  on  the  wheel 

1  The  Eagle's  Nest,  p.  120. 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    277 

and  threw  the  colour  on  the  canvas  with  the  uncon- 
scious ease  and  perfection  of  instinct.  It  is  easy  for 
anything  to  act  according  to  its  own  nature.  It  is 
easy  for  sugar  to  be  sweet,  for  the  sun  to  shine  and 
the  grass  to  grow.  So  it  is  easy  for  a  Christian  to  be 
Christlike  when  Christ  liveth  in  him.  If  the  root  is 
right,  every  leaf  and  blossom  will  be  of  the  right  shape 
and  colour  and  the  fruit  will  have  the  proper  flesh  and 
flavour.  If  Christ  lives  in  us  all  our  thoughts  and 
deeds  will  be  the  fruits  of  the  Spirit. 

(6)  Complete  self-surrender  of  the  heart  to  Jesus 
Christ  is  the  secret  of  such  a  life.  Paul  had  made  this 
surrender  and  hence  he  could  say,  "I  live;  and  yet 
not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me."  No  special  tempera- 
ment or  genius  is  needed  to  receive  this  gift  and  attain 
this  life,  but  it  may  be  possessed  and  enjoyed  by  the 
humblest  soul.  Mr.  Beecher  tells  us  that  about  the 
finest  Christian  he  ever  knew  was  an  old  negress  who 
had  been  a  slave.  Eight  or  ten  children,  one  by  one, 
had  been  snatched  and  sold  away  from  her,  yet  her 
patience  and  forgiveness  towards  her  oppressors  were 
remarkable.  ''  She  stood  as  a  trunk  with  branch  after 
branch  torn  off;  but  the  topmost  boughs  were  bright 
with  blossoms,  and  the  light  of  heaven  rested  on 
them."  ^  Christ  lived  in  this  humble  soul.  And  if  we 
will  surrender  ourselves  to  him  in  the  same  faith  and 
faithfulness  he  will  dwell  in  us  so  that  we  each  one  can 
say,  ^'  I  live;  yet  not  I,  but  Christ  liveth  in  me:  and 
the  life  which  I  now  live  in  the  (losh,  I  live  by  faith 
of  the  Sou  of  God,  who  loved  me,  and  gave  himself  for 
me."  Tlien  the  Christian  life  will  How  out  of  us  as 
a  stream  from  its  fountain  and  as  light  from  the 
sun. 

'  Sennona,  Vol.   I,   p.    142. 


278      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

IX.    Discipline 

Our  account  of  the  growth  of  the  Christian  life  would 
not  be  complete,  even  from  the  point  of  view  of  psy- 
chology, without  some  mention  of  the  ministry  of  disci- 
pline. Temptation,  trial,  and  sorrow  have  a  large  place 
in  our  Christian  life.  However  these  things  in  their 
roots  may  be  intertwined  with  sin  as  their  cause,  yet 
when  rightly  resisted  or  borne  they  are  the  means  of 
strong  and  rich  character.  The  human  spirit  never 
thrives  well  in  constant  warmth  and  sunshine.  Cold 
and  storm  have  a  part  to  play  in  developing  the  deep 
roots  and  tough  fibre  of  strong  souls.  The  greenhouse 
with  its  artificial  heat  and  protection  rears  tender 
blooms  that  quickly  wither,  but  oaks  grow  out  in  the 
open  and  are  cradled  in  hardship  and  rocked  by  storms. 
The  world  is  thickset  with  difficulties  and  dangers,  dis- 
ease and  disaster,  and  it  is  the  mastering  of  these  that 
makes  men.  A  world  all  upholstered  with  safety  and 
luxurious  comfort  and  ease  would  not  make  vertebrate 
souls.  Temptation  tries  and  develops  men  in  courage 
and  might  and  enables  them  to  mount  on  the  steps  of 
victorious  deeds  to  the  crown  of  mastery.  Jesus  came 
out  of  the  temptation  in  the  wilderness  a  stronger  man 
and  Saviour  than  he  was  when  he  went  in. 

Sorrow  chastens  the  human  spirit  into  beauty  that 
cannot  otherwise  be  acquired.  It  may  be  the  mother 
of  faith,  submission,  and  peace.  Pearls  are  the  product 
of  the  suffering  of  the  shellfish,  and  out  of  its  agony 
the  human  soul  secretes  some  of  its  finest  gems  of  char- 
acter. Tears  are  great  teachers;  their  bitter,  briny 
drops  may  be  transmuted  into  telescopic  lenses  that 
enable  us  to  see  things  beyond  the  horizon  of  our 
earthly  vision.    We  do  not  see  the  things  of  time  and 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    279 

eternity  in  the  right  light  until  we  see  them  through  our 
tears.  Great  souls  nearly  always  wear  crowns  that 
have  been  fashioned  in  the  fires  of  great  sorrows;  and 
those  that  have  escaped  this  severe  discipline  usually 
exhibit  some  lack  of  character.  The  music  of  the  world 
would  be  robbed  of  much  of  its  finest  beauty  and  greatly 
impoverished  if  its  minor  notes  were  stricken  from  its 
chords.  "  If  I  could  make  you  suffer  two  years,"  said 
an  eminent  teacher  to  one  of  his  pupils,  ''  you  would 
be  the  greatest  contralto  in  the  world."  Masterful 
faith  in  God  is  not  attained  until  we  can  exclaim, 
*^  Though  he  slay  me,  yet  will  I  trust  in  him."  Even 
the  Son  of  God  was  made  perfect  through  suffering, 
and  we  cannot  reach  this  high  prize  through  any  easier 
process.  Often  must  the  outer  things  of  life  perish  in 
flames  of  loss  and  sorrow  that  the  inner  spirit  may  be 
renewed  and  chastened  into  perfection.  God  causes  all 
things  to  work  together  for  our  good  and  transmutes 
pain  into  peace,  suffering  into  submission,  ashes  into 
beauty,  and  a  spirit  of  heaviness  into  a  garment  of 
praise. 

Had  he  not  turned  us  in  his  hand,  and  thrust 
Our  high  things  low  and  shook  our  hills  as  dust, 
We  had  not  been  this  splendour,  and  our  wrong 
An  everlasting  music  for  the  song 
Of  earth  and  heaven. 

X.    Character 

I.  The  Nature  of  Christian  Character. — The  out- 
come and  final  end  of  all  this  growth  in  the  Christian 
life  is  Christian  character,  a  perfect  personality,  *'  a 
completely  fashioned  will." 

The  scientific  ideal  of  the  i>erfect  man  is  expressed 
in  Huxley's  well  known  deliniiion  of  education:  "That 


280       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

man,  I  think,  has  had  a  liberal  education  who  has  been 
so  trained  in  youth  that  his  body  is  the  ready  servant 
of  his  will,  and  does  with  ease  and  pleasure  all  the 
work  that,  as  a  mechanism,  it  is  capable  of;  whose 
intellect  is  a  clear,  cold,  logic  engine,  with  all  its  parts 
of  equal  strength,  and  in  smooth  working  order ;  ready, 
like  a  steam  engine,  to  be  turned  to  any  kind  of  work, 
and  spin  the  gossamers  as  well  as  forge  the  anchors  of 
the  mind;  whose  mind  is  stored  with  knowledge  of  the 
great  fundamental  truths  of  nature  and  of  the  laws  of 
her  operations;  one  who,  no  stunted  ascetic,  is  full  of 
life  and  fire,  but  whose  passions  are  trained  to  come 
to  heel  by  a  vigorous  will,  the  servant  of  a  tender 
conscience ;  who  has  learned  to  love  all  beauty,  whether 
of  nature  or  of  art,  to  hate  all  vileness,  and  to  respect 
others  as  himself."  ^ 

The  Christian  ideal  of  the  perfect  man  as  set  forth 
in  Scripture  includes  the  same  elements:  a  pure, 
healthy  body  ("a  temple  of  the  Holy  Spirit"),  disci- 
plined into  servitude  to  the  will  (''  I  bring  it  into  sub- 
jection"), a  developed  mind,  a  noble  heart,  and  an 
obedient  will,  all  combined  into  symmetry  and  har- 
mony, a  full-statured,  broad-visioned  man  living  in  full 
fine  relations  with  men  and  with  God.  These  ele- 
ments are  pictured  as  "  the  fruit  of  the  Spirit,"  "  love, 
joy,  peace,  longsuffering,  kindness,  goodness,  faithful- 
ness, meekness,  self-control." 

The  Bible  not  only  gives  us  a  portrait  of  the  perfect 
man,  but  also  sets  before  us  the  Living  Reality  in  him 
who  "  is  holy,  guileless,  undefiled,  separated  from  sin- 
ners, and  made  higher  than  the  heavens,"  perfect  in  all 
the  powers  and  graces  of  manhood,  the  Son  of  man 
and  Son  of  God.     All  ministries  and  means  of  grace 

^  Lay  Sermons,  pp.  34-35. 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    281 

are  given  unto  us  "  for  the  perfecting  of  the  saints, 
unto  the  work  of  ministering,  unto  the  building  up  of 
the  body  of  Christ:  till  we  all  attain  unto  the  unity 
of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the  Son  of  God, 
unto  a  full-grown  man,  unto  the  measure  of  the  stature 
of  the  fulness  of  Christ."  In  so  far  as  we  are  filled 
with  the  spirit  of  Jesus  Christ  and  are  like  him  we  have 
reached  the  final  end  of  the  Christian  life  and  have 
attained  its  fine  blossom  and  full  fruitage. 

The  Christian,  then,  is  no  narrow  or  deformed  or 
defective  man,  that  lacks  any  essential  element  of 
the  fullest  and  strongest  and  finest  manhood.  He  has 
no  right  to  be  ill-proportioned  and  misshapen,  in  any 
respect  unlovely  and  repellent,  round  and  rich  on  one 
side  and  shrivelled  and  mean  on  another;  but  in  him 
all  manly  qualities,  the  ph^'sical  and  the  spiritual,  the 
intellectual  and  the  emotional,  the  passive  and  the  act- 
ive, meekness  and  virility,  kindness  and  courage,  faith 
and  works,  should  be  combined  and  blended  into  har- 
monious symmetry  and  strength  and  fruitfnlness.  He 
should  be  a  citizen  of  this  w^orld  in  all  of  its  interests 
and  also  a  citizen  of  heaven,  loyal  to  its  laws  and  im- 
bued with  its  spirit,  with  his  eyes  on  the  earth  yet  ever 
following  the  gleam  of  the  heavenly  vision.  He  should 
be  '*  filled  unto  all  the  fulness  of  God,"  and  stand  as 
tall  and  beautiful  as  Christ  himself.  This  is  the  ideal 
Christian  life  towards  which  we  should  ever  strive. 

2.  Is  Character  a  By-Product? — Is  i)erfection  of 
jxTsunaiity  to  be  sought  dirertiy  as  a  per.sonal  end,  or 
only  indirectly  through  social  service?  Is  it  right  to 
cultivate  the  self?  We  sometimes  hear  advice  to  the 
ellVct  that  self-cultivation  is  mistaken  in  theory  and 
bad  in  practice.  Kven  so  eminent  an  educator  as 
Woodrow  Wilson  is  quoted  as  saying,  in  an  address 


282       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

to  the  National  Council  of  Boy  Scouts,  that  "  character 
is  a  by-product,"  and  that  "  a  man  who  devotes  him- 
self to  the  development  of  his  own  character  will  suc- 
ceed in  nothing  except  making  a  prig,"  and  that  "  if 
you  set  to  work  to  make  character  because  you  love 
yourself  you  will  make  an  ass."  This  is  strange  talk 
to  come  from  a  schoolmaster,  for  is  not  the  whole 
process  of  education  from  the  kindergarten  to  the  uni- 
versity a  cultivation  of  the  self?  Are  we  not  to  build 
up  a  good  body,  a  disciplined  mind,  and  a  noble  heart? 
Is  not  "  a  man  to  examine  himself  "  and  see  wherein  he 
falls  short  and  bring  himself  up  to  a  higher  standard? 
Are  we  not  bidden  to  "  love  thy  neighbour  as  thy- 
self"?  Unless  we  first  cultivate  the  self  we  shall  have 
nothing  of  worth  with  which  to  serve  others.  True  love 
of  self  is  simply  appreciating  and  guarding  and  de- 
veloping our  own  worth  and  right  and  dignity,  and 
such  self-love  must  precede  other  love,  we  must  get 
a  soul  before  we  can  serve.  Of  course  we  must  be  on 
our  guard  against  conceit  and  selfishness  and  morbid 
self-consciousness;  and  of  course  we  can  develop  and 
cultivate  the  self  only  as  we  also  serve  others,  for 
development  of  personality  is  not  an  isolated  but  a 
social  process,  and  we  are  to  use  our  developed  and 
cultivated  selves  in  the  service  of  others;  but  this  fact 
does  not  annul  the  complementary  fact  that  self- 
development  has  its  necessary  place  in  our  life  and  is 
our  primary  duty.  In  stating  a  double-faced  truth 
we  ought  not  to  emphasize  one  side  at  the  expense  of 
the  other,  but  keep  both  in  their  due  place  and  propor- 
tion and  thus  preserve  the  full-orbed  sphere  of  life. 

3.    Individuality  in  Christian  Character. — We  have 
already  remarked  on  the  individuality  of  character/ 

^Pp.  65-68. 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     283 

and  we  must  leave  large  room  for  this  vital  fact.  Chris- 
tian life,  being  the  fullest  development  and  highest 
form  of  life,  is  subject  to  the  widest  differentiation  and 
the  greatest  variety  of  types.  All  the  infinitely  vary- 
ing elements  that  enter  into  the  constitution  and  de- 
velopment of  the  body  and  the  soul  are  reflected  in  the 
individuality  of  the  personality.  The  temperaments, 
sanguine  and  choleric  or  phlegmatic  and  melancholy, 
give  to  it  their  tone  and  colour.  And  so  we  have  every 
type  and  variety  of  Christians,  intellectual  or  emo- 
tional, practical  doers  or  meditative  mystics.  Some 
specially  exhibit  one  grace  or  activity  in  the  Christian 
life,  and  others  are  marked  by  some  other  character- 
istic. 

The  Bible  characters  that  crowd  its  gallery  with  their 
portraits  are  remarkable  for  their  sharp  individualities. 
Abraham  and  Moses,  David  and  Job,  John  and  James, 
Martha  and  Mary,  Peter  and  Paul,  stand  out  like 
etchings.  And  Christian  history  exhibits  the  same 
kind  of  portraits.  Athanasius  and  Augustine,  Luther 
and  Calvin,  Wesley  and  Whitefield,  Edwards  and 
Finney,  are  as  distinct  as  mountain  peaks  that  notch 
the  sky  each  one  with  its  own  particular  shape.  Chris- 
tian thinkers  and  leaders  to-day  also  have  their  own 
special  gifts  and  work,  and  all  the  millions  of  Chris- 
tians are  marked  each  bv  his  own  individual itv.  We 
Still  have  Peters  and  Pauls,  Martlms  and  Marys  in 
the  clnncli,  and  many  new  types  of  (Christians  are  pro- 
duced to  meet  the  needs  of  our  nrndern  time.  As  God 
never  cpiotes  himself  in  nature  but  casts  each  planet 
in  its  own  mould  and  paints  every  sunset  and  (lower 
petal  with  its  own  shades  of  colour  and  puts  a  dis- 
tinctive mark  on  every  leaf,  so  he  never  n*|>oats  him- 
self   in    fashioning    f'liristians    info    (he    likeness    of 


284      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

Christ,  but  gives  them  gifts  differing  and  causes  them 
to  differ  as  one  star  differeth  from  another  star  in 
glory. 

We  are  strongly  disposed  to  look  with  some  doubt  or 
suspicion  or  envy  on  this  variety  of  gifts  and  to  think 
that  other  people  ought  to  be  like  us,  as  though  we 
were  the  perfect  pattern  and  model.  We  regard  our 
church,  our  creed,  our  mode  of  worship  and  type  of 
Christian  character  as  the  perfection  of  orthodoxy, 
and  may  think  that  to  differ  from  us  is  a  dangerous 
and  guilty  thing.  There  are  sectarians  who  would  put 
the  whole  Vv^orld  through  their  own  little  theological 
machine  and  bring  people  out  all  the  same  size,  shape, 
and  colour,  just  like  a  machine  that  cuts  nails  or 
makes  buttons.  We  see  such  tendencies  in  small  re- 
ligious sects  that  impose  upon  their  members  narrow 
and  rigid  rules  governing  their  creed  and  forms  of 
worship  and  even  their  manners  and  dress.  Of  the 
Quakers,  most  excellent  people,  Charles  Lamb  said 
that  "  if  they  could  they  would  paint  the  universe  in 
drab." 

But  God  has  not  built  the  kingdom  of  grace,  any 
more  than  the  kingdom  of  nature,  on  lines  of  uni- 
formity. He  has  given  us  gifts  differing  and  shaped 
every  body  after  its  own  pattern  and  cast  every  soul 
in  its  own  mould.  Our  infinitely  varying  elements  of 
personality  are  divinely  given  and  are  to  be  respected 
and  appreciated  each  for  its  own  peculiar  worth  and 
work,  use  and  beauty.  God  wants  all  kinds  of  people 
in  his  world  and  church  and  kingdom,  and  that  they 
may  all  find  easy  entrance  and  warm  welcome  and 
abundant  hospitality  he  has  built  his  city  with  twelve 
open  gates,  and  we  should  rejoice  to  see  people  of  every^ 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE     285 

type  of  individuality  crowding  through  all  these  en- 
trances into  his  kingdom. 

Our  levelling  sectarian  ideas  would  work  an  enor- 
mous impoverishment  of  the  world,  stripping  it  of  its 
variety  and  picturesqueness  and  beauty  and  reducing  it 
to  a  dead  level  of  monotony,  like  a  flock  of  sheep  or 
blackbirds.  It  would  be  a  poor  and  pitiful,  dull  and 
dreary  world,  if  other  people  were  all  like  us,  what- 
ever our  type  and  gifts  may  be.  Variety  is  the  spice 
of  life,  and  all  the  beauty  and  joy  of  this  many- 
coloured  world  grow  out  of  our  diversity  of  gifts. 
More  disastrous  still,  uniformity  of  type  would  vastly 
lower  the  efficiency  of  Christian  service,  for  the  prin- 
ciple of  special  gifts,  with  the  resulting  division  of 
labour  which  so  enormously  increases  production  in 
industry  and  art,  is  equally  efficient  and  fruitful  in 
religion.  It  is  because  "  God  hath  set  some  in  the 
church,  first  apostles,  secondly  prophets,  thirdly  teach- 
ers, then  miracles,  then  gifts  of  healing,  helps,  govern- 
ments, divers  kinds  of  tongues,"  that  we  can  carry 
on  the  varying  activities  of  the  Christian  life  and  build 
the  comi)lex  kin^i^dom  of  God  in  the  world.  One  can 
preach  and  another  teach,  one  can  sing  and  another 
pray,  one  can  write  books  and  another  write  songs,  one 
can  train  the  children  in  the  home  and  another  in  the 
school,  one  can  labour  in  the  gosi)el  at  home,  and  an- 
other can  go  as  a  foreign  missionary.  Let  us  not,  tlion. 
envy  or  disparage  or  despise  one  another.  *'  For  even 
as  we  have  many  nienil)ers  in  one  body,  and  all  the 
niciubers  have  not  the  same  onice;  so  we,  being  many, 
are  one  bo«ly  in  Christ,  and  severally  members  one  of 
anolher.  And  having  gifts  ditlering  according  to  the 
ffrnce  that  was  given  unto  us,  whether  prophecy,  U't  us 
prophesy  according  to  the  proportion  of  our  faith;  or 


286      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

ministry,  let  us  give  ourselves  to  our  ministry;  or  he 
that  teacheth,  to  his  teaching;  or  he  that  exhorteth, 
to  his  exhorting:  he  that  giveth,  let  him  do  it  with 
liberality ;  he  that  ruleth,  with  diligence ;  he  that  show- 
eth  mercy,  with  cheerfulness/' 

The  same  principle  may  be  extended  to  our  denomina- 
tions and  to  various  Christian  organizations  such  as 
the  Young  Men's  Christian  Association.  They  each 
have  a  special  character  and  mission.  A  denomina- 
tion is  a  large  group  of  people  that  have  common 
thoughts  and  sympathies  in  Christian  faith  and  service. 
It  is  generally  best  that  such  people  should  flock  to- 
gether and  go  into  the  kingdom  on  the  same  side.  This 
conduces  to  order  and  harmony  and  efiSciency.  In  the 
Cathedral  of  St.  John  the  Divine  in  New  York,  around 
the  apse  are  arranged  seven  chapels  in  each  one  of 
which  worship  is  conducted  in  a  different  language. 
It  would  not  conduce  to  the  intelligibility  of  the  serv- 
ice to  remove  the  dividing  partitions  and  merge  the 
polyglot  congregations  into  one;  and  yet  they  are  all 
gathered  under  the  same  roof  and  are  parts  of  the  same 
great  cathedral.  So  our  denominations  may  be  viewed 
as  chapels  in  which  groups  of  Christians  worship  in 
somewhat  different  accents  of  faith  and  order ;  yet  they 
are  parts  of  the  same  grand  cathedral  and  worship 
the  same  Christ.  No  doubt  there  are  too  many  divid- 
ing partitions.  Some  of  these  have  been  taken  down, 
and  others  are  growing  thin  and  fragile  and  are  about 
to  crumble;  but  some  of  them  may  long  endure,  at 
least  in  the  interest  of  efficiency. 

There  is,  however,  one  deadly  danger  in  connection 
with  denominations:  and  that  is,  that  each  one  will 
think  that  it  has  the  only  true  gate  into  the  kingdom, 
whereas  John  saw  twelve  gates  open  day  and  night, 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    287 

three  on  every  side,  so  that  from  whatever  direction  any 
weary  traveller  might  come  he  would  find  an  open 
gate.  We  may  well  jjity  the  blindness  of  that  bigotry 
that  can  see  no  gate  but  its  own.  This  narrow  spirit 
is  waning,  and  there  is  growing  that  broad  spirit  that 
rejoices  to  see  the  people  come  from  the  north  and 
from  the  south  and  from  the  east  and  from  the  west  and 
enter  into  the  common  kingdom  of  our  Lord  and  Sav- 
iour Jesus  Christ. 

There  are  thus  wide  room  and  great  need  and  use  for 
individuality  in  the  Christian  life  and  service.  God 
loves  variety  and  has  scattered  it  in  the  richest  pro- 
fusion over  all  his  works.  He  who  makes  one  star  to 
differ  from  another  star  in  glory  and  puts  a  distinctive 
notch  in  every  leaf  will  not  repeat  even  the  most  per- 
fect soul  or  the  most  beautiful  saint.  Having  made 
us  each  one  after  a  special  type,  he  breaks  the  mould 
and  fashions  the  next  one  after  a  different  pattern. 
He  has  infinite  resources  and  never  does  the  same  thing 
twice,  and  hence  the  endless  diversity  of  his  works.  It 
is  by  ever  varied  individuality  that  he  keeps  his  world 
from  stagnation  and  fixity  and  death  and  rejuvenates 
it  in  ever  new  forms  of  life  and  beauty  and  joy;  for 

God  fulfils  himself  in  many  ways, 
Lest  one  good  custom  should  corrupt  the  world. 

4.  Christian  Society. — The  full  and  final  outcome  of 
Christian  growth  is  Christian  society,  the  kingdom  of 
God  on  earth.  This  society  begins  in  tlie  home  and 
broadens  out  through  widening  circles  in  the  church 
and  community  and  state  and  nation  until  it  sweeps 
the  great  circle  of  the  earth.  Its  final  realization  is  a 
redeemed  liumauity  in  a  world  of  universal  justice  and 


288       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

peace  and  brotherhood  and  spiritual  blessing,  a  Chris- 
tianized social  order.  Though  a  kingdom,  vet  it  is  also 
a  democracy  in  which  all  are  kings  and  priests  unto 
God.  Gifts  differing  will  ever  remain,  and  these  will 
give  birth  to  differences  in  service  and  reward  and  to 
different  social  classes,  but  these  will  all  be  united  in 
the  deeper  unity  and  democracy  of  Christian  brother- 
hood. Prophets  and  apostles  caught  foregleams  of 
this  coming  universal  kingdom.  "  And  the  ransomed 
of  the  Lord  shall  return,  and  come  to  Zion  with  songs, 
and  everlasting  joy  upon  their  heads :  they  shall  obtain 
joy  and  gladness,  and  sorrow  and  sighing  shall  flee 
away."  Jesus  declared  that  ^'  there  shall  be  one  fold, 
and  one  shepherd,"  and  St.  John  saw  the  holy  city 
descending  out  of  heaven  from  God  and  the  nations 
entering  into  it.  We  are  now  building  this  city  and 
the  wearv  world  waits  and  lonojs  for  it.  War  mav  seem 
to  be  overturning  and  uprooting  its  very  foundations, 
but  such  destruction  often  precedes  construction,  and 
amidst  the  convulsion  are  being  laid  deeper  and  more 
solid  foundations  of  a  permanent  world  kingdom  of 
brotherhood  and  love. 

What  is  the  final  end  and  finest  flower  of  our  vast 
splendid  civilization?  Not  our  great  cities  and  build- 
ings and  banks,  our  marvellous  inventions  and  multi- 
plying wealth,  much  less  our  warships  and  engines  of 
destruction.  These  material  things  may  be  only  the 
rank  soil  out  of  which  will  grow  scarlet  blossoms  of 
enervating  luxury  and  pride,  social  injustice  and  vice, 
blossoms  that  will  wither  into  dust.  The  highest  out- 
come of  civilization,  the  end  for  which  all  things  else 
are  means,  are  good  people.  Lowell  said  that  the 
finest  flower  of  our  civilization  is  a  group  of  culti- 
vated people  engaged  in  friendly  conversation.     This 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  CHRISTIAN  LIFE    289 

is  the  Christian  ideal.  '^  Ye  are  my  friends,"  said 
Jesus  to  his  disciples.  And  what  is  heaven?  Perfect 
society  raised  to  its  highest  power.  "  But  ye  are  come 
unto  the  city  of  the  living  God,  the  heavenly  Jerusalem, 
and  to  an  innumerable  company  of  angels,  to  the  gen- 
eral assembly  and  church  of  the  first-born,  which  are 
written  in  heaven,  and  to  God  the  Judge  of  all,  and  to 
the  spirits  of  just  men  made  perfect,  and  to  Jesus." 


CHAPTER  VII 
THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON 

PREACHING  is  persuasion.  It  is  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  gospel  in  speech  so  as  to  persuade 
hearers  to  believe  upon  and  follow  Jesus  Christ. 
It  is  not  teaching,  or  lecturing,  or  entertaining,  or 
acting,  though  each  or  all  of  these  in  varying  degrees 
may  enter  into  it.  Its  object  is  to  enlighten  the  mind 
so  as  to  kindle  and  inspire  the  heart  and  thereby  de- 
cide and  energize  the  will  to  act;  it  seeks  to  convert 
men  and  make  them  Christians  in  character  and  con- 
duct, spirit  and  service. 

The  psychology  of  preaching  is  the  application  of 
the  principles  of  psychology  to  this  art  so  as  to  attain 
its  practical  purpose.  All  the  powers  and  means  and 
motives  of  the  preacher  should  converge  to  this  one 
point  as  their  burning  focus  and  sovereign  end.  The 
preacher  above  all  other  men  should  be  a  practical 
psychologist,  a  master  of  the  art  of  ruling  the  human 
soul. 

We  have  made  incidental  application  of  our  sub- 
ject to  the  art  of  preaching  during  the  course  of  these 
chapters,  but  we  are  now  to  gather  it  up  and  concen- 
trate it  upon  this  one  point.  The  psychology  of  preach- 
ing involves  the  whole  subject  of  preaching  in  homi- 
letics  and  delivery  and  really  covers  the  entire  course  in 
the  theological  seminary  and  goes  back  into  the  college 
and  into  all  the  preceding  life;  but  in  this  chapter  we 

290 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON     291 

can  only  glance  in  a  suggestive  way  at  the  application 
of  psychology  to  the  sermon. 

I.    The  Parts  of  the  Sermon 

The  sermon  is  the  chief  tool  of  the  preacher,  and 
therefore  he  should  first  study  and  know  how  to  fashion 
it.  A  primary  object  of  the  preacher  is  to  gain  and 
hold  the  attention  of  his  hearers  so  that  he  may  con- 
vince their  minds  and  move  their  wills,  and  we  shall 
consider  the  psychological  construction  of  the  parts  of 
the  sermon  with  a  view  to  this  end.  No  matter  how 
orthodox  a  sermon  may  be,  if  it  does  not  have  the 
quality  of  interest,  if  it  does  not  obey  the  laws  of  the 
mind  so  as  to  enlist  the  attention  and  work  convic- 
tion, it  will  fail  of  its  purpose.  Every  part  of  the  ser- 
mon as  well  as  the  sermon  as  a  whole  should  be  so 
constructed  and  pervaded  with  the  quality  of  interest 
that  it  will  hold  the  minds  of  the  hearers  from  be- 
ginning to  end. 

I.  The  Text. — The  very  first  words  of  a  discourse 
are  of  critical  importance,  almost  making  or  marring 
it  at  the  start,  and  the  text  is  the  tip  of  the  sermon, 
the  point  of  its  spear.  Some  texts  at  once  attract  at- 
tention and  awaken  expectation,  and  others  fail  to 
excite  interest  and  may  create  a  sense  of  disappoint- 
ment as  having  been  worn  threadbare  and  exhausted. 
A  text  should  have  unity,  point,  suggest iveness,  and,  if 
l)0ssible,  freshness.  These  qualities  are  more  likely  to 
be  found  in  a  short  text,  and  as  a  general  rule  tlio 
shorter  the  text  the  belter.  A  short  text  is  easily  re- 
membered and  it  may  strike  and  stick  in  (he  mind  like 
an  arrow.  A  long,  loosely  jointed  text,  or  one  that  con- 
sists of  several  verses  gathered  from  different  parts  of 
Scripture,  is  likely  to  lack  unity  and  point  and  to  be 


292      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

confusing.  Even  the  passage  on  which  an  expository 
sermon  is  based  should  be  reasonably  short  and  have 
compactness  and  unity,  but  the  text  of  a  topical  sermon 
is  best  when  it  is  a  single  verse  or  clause  or  phrase  or 
even  word,  which  concisely  states  or  suggests  the  sub- 
ject. Of  course  many  familiar  well-worn  texts  must 
be  used,  but  an  unusual  text  makes  a  fresh  appeal  to 
the  mind.  Some  preachers  have  a  kind  of  genius  for 
finding  good  texts,  for  the  good  texts  have  not  yet  all 
been  found.  Horace  Bushnell  exhibited  this  genius 
when  he  took  for  his  great  sermon  on  "  Unconscious 
Influence "  the  text,  ^'  Then  went  in  also  that  other 
disciple"  (John  20:8).  The  preacher  should  study 
this  art  and  learn  to  look  for  the  gleaming  point  of 
light  in  a  verse,  as  a  diamond  hunter  is  ever  keenly 
watching  for  the  sparkle  of  light  in  a  stone. 

2.  The  Topic. — Even  more  important  than  the  text, 
as  regards  interest,  is  the  topic  or  subject  of  the  ser- 
mon, which  should  have  the  quality  of  arresting  and 
holding  the  mind.  To  be  interesting  a  subject  should 
be  worth  while,  it  should  concern  us,  it  should  be 
timely,  and  it  should  be  attractively  stated. 

(a)  The  subject  of  a  sermon  should  be  something 
worth  while.  There  should  be  sufficient  magnitude  and 
mass  in  it  l;o  give  the  sermon  weight  and  momentum. 
Trifling  matters,  petty  rules  of  behaviour,  common- 
place platitudes  do  not  have  sufficient  bulk  and  sub- 
stance for  pulpit  discourse.  Such  things  may  be  treated 
Incidentally  in  a  sermon,  but  are  not  large  enough  for 
its  central  subject.  Sermons  as  a  rule  should  have 
large  themes,  subjects  of  momentous  importance.  No 
other  field  of  discourse  so  abounds  in  great  subjects. 
Religious  principles  run  through  all  life  and  out 
through  the  universe  up  to  God,  and  the  preacher 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON      293 

should  know  how  to  connect  his  subject  with  these 
cosmic  relations.  The  mind  is  instinctively  attracted 
and  aroused  and  impressed  by  great  things,  and  the 
preacher  should  enlist  the  aid  of  this  psychological  law 
by  hitching  his  sermon  to  the  star  of  a  great  subject. 
(6)  In  the  same  line,  the  subject  should  be  one  that 
concerns  us.  It  should  be  a  matter  that  comes  home 
to  every  one's  business  and  bosom.  The  modern  prag- 
matic test  of  truth  is.  What  difference  does  it  make  to 
us  in  our  conduct?  If  it  makes  no  difference  at  all, 
then  as  far  as  our  conduct  is  concerned  it  is  just  the 
same  as  though  it  were  not  true.  The  same  test  may 
be  applied  to  our  sermons:  what  difference  do  they 
make  to  us  in  our  living?  If  no  difference,  or  if  we 
cannot  see  or  feel  the  difference,  then  what  use  are  they 
and  why  preach  them?  We  have  all  heard  sermons  on 
theological  incomprehensibilities  or  on  outworn  and 
obsolete  aspects  of  doctrine  or  polity  that  we  felt  did 
not  concern  us  in  the  least.  It  made  no  difference  to  us 
whether  they  XV^ere  true  or  not.  This  is  the  root  of 
the  objection  to  doctrinal  sermons:  the  j)eople  see  no 
use  in  such  sermons  and  so  find  them  dry  and  dreary. 
But  if  the  i)reacher  can  make  doctrinal  sermons  prac- 
tically useful  by  hitching  them  right  on  to  daily  living, 
^  the  people  will  hear  them  gladly.  The  author  once 
heard  a  sermon  on  the  intercession  of  Christ  with  the 
Father  in  heaven.  For  half  an  hour  the  preacher  car- 
ried on  an  imaginary  description  of  some  mysterious 
process  that  was  going  on  uj*  in  heaven  and  never  once 
did  he  touch  the  earth  and  the  coiniiion  mortals  that 
were  listening  to  him.  He  was  talking  about  some- 
thing that  tlicy  could  not  uiidcrstand  and  that  lie  knew 
notiiing  about,  so  that  for  half  an  hour  we  wore  en- 
veloi>ed  in  a  fog  of  mystery.     It  was  simply  impossible 


294<      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

to  be  interested  in  such  a  sermon.  This  is  what  is  the 
matter  with  a  good  many  of  our  sermons :  they  are  up 
in  the  air  and  far  away  in  a  misty  theological  region 
and  do  not  come  down  to  the  ground.  They  do  not  get 
into  our  hearts  and  lay  hold  of  our  daily  life.  They 
may  be  true  in  a  sense,  but  they  do  not  concern  us, 
and  hence  are  not  interesting  and  efficient.  No  other 
subject  lies  so  close  to  life  and  goes  so  deep  into  the 
heart  as  religion,  and  we  should  learn  to  see  such 
aspects  of  it  as  have  this  vital  element  of  practical 
usefulness. 

(c)  Sermon  subjects  should  be  timely,  adapted  to 
their  day,  and  often  to  the  current  events  of  the  day. 
A  sermon  that  could  have  been  preached  as  well  in  the 
ninth  or  nineteenth  century  may  not  hit  the  mark  in 
the  twentieth  centurv.  A  Christmas  sermon  would  be 
strangely  out  of  place  and  would  only  create  amuse- 
ment on  the  Fourth  of  July,  and  a  patriotic  discourse 
suitable  for  the  Fourth  of  July  would  jar  the  sen- 
sibilities at  a  communion  service.  Sermons  should  be 
opportune  to  the  season  of  the  year,  the  state  of  the 
congregation,  and  the  events  of  the  day.  Every  minister 
knows  he  can  preach  sermons  in  a  revival  season  that 
he  could  not  preach  so  well  at  other  times:  the  soil 
is  then  prepared  for  them;  there  is  a  state  of  interest 
to  receive  them.  Great  public  events,  such  as  the  San 
Francisco  earthquake  or  the  sinking  of  the  Titanic, 
call  out  sermons  that  take  advantage  of  the  common 
thought  and  feeling,  and  such  sermons,  taking  the  tide 
at  its  flood,  may  rise  to  the  occasion  with  tremendous 
power.  And  yet  the  preacher  may  go  too  far  in  this 
direction,  and  preachers  that  are  always  preaching  on 
current  events  may  tire  the  people  because  they  are 
simply  pouring  upon  them  out  of  the  pulpit  the  same 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON     295 

stuff  with  which  they  have  been  drenched  through  the 
hose  of  the  newspaper  during  the  week. 

(d)  And  the  subject  should  be  attractively  stated.  A 
conventionalized,  commonplace  statement  of  a  subject 
may  doom  a  sermon  to  deadly  dulness  before  it  is  born. 
Such  a  subject  first  spreads  its  stupefying  influence 
over  the  mind  of  the  preacher  while  he  is  making  the 
sermon,  and  then  it  chloroforms  the  congregation  while 
it  is  being  delivered.  On  the  other  hand,  a  fresh  live 
subject,  or  one  stated  in  apt,  suggestive,  and  striking 
terms,  wakes  up  the  mind  of  the  preacher  and  then  it 
wakes  up  the  congregation.  Great  preachers  usually 
have  a  genius  for  finding  or  making  suggestive  and 
attractive  subjects.  One  realizes  this  when  he  runs  his 
eye  down  the  list  of  topics  in  a  volume  of  sermons  by 
Phillips  Brooks  or  Dr.  W.  L.  Watkinson.  Who  would  not 
like  to  hear  a  sermon  on  Phillips  Brooks's  "  The  With- 
held Completions  of  Life,"  or  on  Dr.  Watkinson's  '*  The 
Splendid  Isolation,"  or  ^' The  Hidden  Sackcloth"? 
In  looking  over  the  list  of  subjects  of  sermons  in  the 
Saturday  newspaper  one  is  instinctively  attracted  by 
some  and  repelled  by  others.  A  good  subject  is  a  ser- 
mon half  done.  It  almost  creates  its  own  sermon, 
unfolding  as  naturally  and  inevitably  as  a  seed  into  its 
flower.  A  preacher  should  spend  much  time  and  study 
in  getting  his  subject  into  good  shape.  Cut  out  super- 
fluous verbiage  and  condense  it  into  a  compact  and 
telling  plirase.  See  that  it  just  hits  the  mark.  Shape 
and  smooth  and  feather  it  like  an  arrow.  Hammer  and 
I)()Iisli  it  until  it  has  the  shari»ness  and  glitter  of  a 
sword.  Tune  it  up  until  it  sings.  Listen  to  it  and  see 
that  it  sounds  well.  (let  it  out  of  the  beaten  dusty 
track  into  a  fresh  bit  of  meadow  ov  foi*est  ur  up  on  a 
new  mountain  top.    Get  a  subject  that  is  alive  with 


296      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

interest,  and  then  it  will  excite  the  interest  of  the  con- 
gregation. 

Of  course  there  are  dangers  at  this  point.  Every 
sermon  cannot  have  a  striking  subject,  and  there  must 
be  many  on  commonplace  themes.  In  such  cases  it  may 
be  well  not  to  advertise  or  mention  the  subject  and  let 
it  come  out  in  the  sermon.  The  preacher  should  not 
strain  after  original  subjects  and  make  extravagant 
and  fantastical  ones.  Sensational  subjects  may  be  an 
offence  and  abomination.  They  may  violate  every  prin- 
ciple of  propriety  and  advertise  the  preacher's  conceit, 
shallowness,  and  spiritual  irreverence  and  impertinence. 
Yet  in  avoiding  this  extreme  and  abuse  we  should  not 
fall  into  slovenly  subjects,  but  ought  to  give  our  themes 
careful  attention  and  get  them  into  the  best  form. 

An  interesting  subject,  then,  is  the  first  element  of 
an  effective  sermon,  and  such  a  subject  is  one  that  is 
worth  while,  that  concerns  the  hearers,  is  timely,  and  is 
attractively  stated. 

3.  The  Plan. — The  next  vital  element  in  an  efficient 
sermon  is  the  plan,  and  a  good  plan  is  one  that  has 
unity,  logical  order  and  cumulative  power. 

(a)  A  sermon  should  have  unity,  or  one  idea  or  prin- 
ciple should  run  through  it  as  a  spinal  column  or 
trunk  artery.  If  it  is  divided  and  scattered  into  dis- 
connected ideas  it  will  divide  and  distract  the  attention 
of  the  hearers  and  lose  interest.  Little  matter  how 
good  its  parts  are,  if  they  do  not  cohere  into  unity  they 
are  not  likely  to  concentrate  and  hold  the  attention. 
Many  a  sermon  that  contains  good  things  is  not  a  good 
sermon,  and  a  sermon  may  contain  many  interesting 
things  and  yet  not  be  an  interesting  sermon.  It  would 
sometimes  puzzle  hearers  to  assign  a  subject  to  a  ser- 
mon, and  possibly  to  do  this  would  puzzle  the  preacher 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON     297 

himself.  Sermons  that  thus  wander  around  through  a 
miscellaneous  field  and  jungle  of  ideas  in  which  the 
preacher  is  going  everywhere  preaching  the  gospel  and 
not  finding  it  anywhere  cannot  hold  the  attention  of 
the  hearers.  The  preacher  who  is  jumping  around  like 
a  grasshopper  cannot  expect  his  people  to  follow  him  in 
his  gymnastics.  But  a  preacher  who  travels  along  a 
straight  road  to  a  goal  will  lead  and  draw  his  congre- 
gation after  him. 

(6)^ This  unitary  subject  should  unfold  in  its  logical 
order.  It  should  be  linked  like  a  chain,  or  unwind  like 
n  rnpe^  so  that  each  link  will  lead  directly  to  the  next 
link  and  the  ro^^e  untwist  into  its  own  strands.  When 
the  transitions  in  a  sermon  are  abrupt  and  unrelated, 
marking  no  advance  in  development,  they  jar  the  mind 
and  throw  its  interest  off  the  track.  The  most  igno- 
rant mind  is  instinctively  logical  and  feels  the  neces- 
sity and  value  of  order.  When  the  preacher  violates 
this  psychological  law  he  is  likely  to  pay  the  penalty  of 
having  an  inattentive  congregation.  Old-fashioned  ser- 
mons had  heads,  but  some  modern  sermons  have  no 
heads  or  head  at  all.  A  sermon  should  have  heads 
or  divisions,  though  they  need  not  always  be  announced. 
The  higher  animals  all  have  skeletons,  though  they  do 
not  wear  them  on  the  outside.  Our  sermons  should  In? 
vertebrate  and  not  a  jellyfish  mass  or  mess,  and  the 
vertebne  should  be  articulated  in  their  right  order, 
and  thus  they  will  follow  the  laws  of  the  mind  and 
enlist  interest. 

(c)^And  a  sermon  should  have  cumulative  power. 
This  is  likely  to  result  from  unity  and  logical  order, 
but  it  needs  to  be  looked  after.  A  sermon  that  is  most 
interesting  in  the  beginning  and  weakens  in  the  mid- 
dle and   breaks  down   at  the  end   is  a  [»(>or  sermon, 


298      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

however  logical  it  may  be.  The  sermon-maker  should 
therefore  watch  this  point  and  arrange  his  plan  and 
materials  so  that  it  will  grow  in  interest  and  culminate 
in  a  climax.  Many  an  otherwise  good  sermon  ravels 
out  into  loose  threads  at  the  end  or  is  diluted  down  into 
thin  watery  stuff.  Save  the  best  things  till  the  end. 
Start  low  down,  but  rise  to  a  summit  that  will  give 
a  mountain  view  of  the  subject,  and  then  the  final  im- 
pression will  be  good. 

A  unitary,  logical,  and  cumulative  plan  helps  the 
sermon  in  the  making  as  it  grov/s  upon  the  mind  and 
attracts  all  kindred  associations.  All  that  the  preacher 
knows  and  has  accumulated  in  his  experience  will 
grow  around  such  a  skeleton  as  its  flesh  and  blood.  It 
helps  the  hearers  in  grasping  and  following  it,  as  it 
slips  into  the  logical  grooves  in  their  minds.  And  it 
greatly  helps  the  preacher  in  the  delivery  of  his  ser- 
mon as  it  unwinds  like  a  rope,  each  part  suggesting  the 
next ;  and  thus  he  can  preach  it,  not  by  memory,  but  by 
a  process  of  reproduction  by  which  it  constantly  re- 
creates itself. 

4.  The  Introduction. — Nothing  should  come  in  im- 
mediately before  the  sermon  in  the  w^ay  of  announce- 
ments or  other  talk.  Announcements,  when  verbal, 
should  be  made  at  an  earlier  point  in  the  service.  When 
the  minister  rises  to  preach  he  should  read  his  text 
and  begin.  The  audience  at  this  moment  is  in  a  state 
of  expectancy,  and  any  other  matter,  especially  a 
verbose  stream  of  talk  about  miscellaneous  affairs,  will 
distract  and  may  ruin  attention.  A  preacher  may  kill 
his  sermon  by  giving  his  congregation  "  that  tired  feel- 
ing "  before  he  begins.  The  introduction  should,  as 
a  rule,  be  short  and  strike  the  subject  or  point  of  the 
sermon  quick.    Dr.  T.  De  Witt  Talmage  was  crude  and 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON     299 

lurid  enough  in  the  matter  and  rhetoric  of  his  sermons, 
but  he  had  a  genius  for  introductions.  He  nearly 
always  struck  his  subject  in  the  first  sentence,  and  that 
sentence  was  a  graphic,  epigrammatic  statement.  Long 
introductions  wear  the  hearers  out  while  the  preacher 
is  getting  ready  to  begin.  The  most  common  introduc- 
tion is  usually  the  poorest,  namely,  the  kind  which  con- 
sists in  telling  the  story  of  the  context  and  simply  pad- 
ding it  out  with  prosy  language  or  watering  it  down 
in  a  sea  of  words.  The  people  generally  know  the 
story,  probably  the  preacher  has  read  it  to  them  only 
a  few  minutes  before,  and  they  should  be  credited  with 
human  intelligence.  Of  course  the  context  must  some- 
times be  explained,  but  this  should  be  done  briefly  and 
graphically,  and  often  it  can  wisely  be  let  alone.  While 
the  preacher  is  w^andering  around  in  his  introduction, 
many  a  hearer  must  feel  like  calling  out  to  him,  "  Play 
ball."  Let  the  sermon  start  right  off  the  bat.  Every 
sermon  is  interesting  in  the  beginning  in  the  sense  that 
the  preacher  has  the  attention  of  his  congregation, 
and  if  he  catches  this  interest  at  its  first  tide  he  may 
hold  it  and  it  will  lead  him  on  to  fortune.  But  if  the 
preacher  wears  out  this  fresh  initial  interest  or  dulls 
its  keen  point  and  loses  the  attention  of  his  audience 
in  his  introduction,  he  may  have  lost  his  chance.  It  is 
wonderful  what  a  preacher  can  do  in  the  first  five  min- 
utes. The  author  once  sat  down  in  a  church  just  as 
the  minister  was  announcing  his  text  and  a  clock  on  the 
wall  pointed  to  eight  o'clock.  After  the  sernmn  had 
!>een  going  on  a  good  while,  as  it  seemed  to  the  hearer, 
and  he  began  to  feel  weary  as  the  preacher  was  wildly 
reaching  around  after  ideas  with  none  in  his  neigh- 
bourhood, a  glance  at  the  clock  sliowed  that  it  was 
only  tive  minutes  after  eight.     In  five  minutes  hi*  wore 


300      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

out  the  attention  of  his  casual  hearer.  On  the  other 
hand,  the  same  hearer,  sitting  in  Dr.  Parkhurst's 
church  in  New  York,  had  no  sense  of  time.  A  short 
crisp  introduction  introduced  a  sermon  all  electric  and 
alive  with  interest.  A  sermon  is  just  as  long  as  it 
seems.  A  prosy  sermon  is  long  at  fifteen  minutes,  and 
an  intensely  interesting  sermon  is  short  at  an  hour. 
Great  pains  should  be  taken  with  the  introduction  to 
make  it  short,  graphic,  and  interesting,  leading  by  a 
few  steps  or  a  single  straight  step  into  the  subject. 
The  entrance  to  a  house  should  bear  some  proper 
proportion  to  the  house  itself  and  not  overshadow  it  or 
be  a  long  tortuous  approach.  The  visitor  wants  to 
get  quickly  through  the  vestibule  into  the  bright  warm 
interior.  Hitch  the  subject  close  up  to  the  text,  come 
to  the  point  at  once,  strike  the  iron  while  it  is  hot,  start 
the  sermon  off  with  a  good  strong  shove  and  give  it 
momentum,  and  then  it  will  go. 

5.  The  Body  of  the  Sermon. — The  development  of 
the  subject  follows  the  introduction  and  carries  out 
the  plan.  It  states  each  head  or  progressive  stage  in 
the  unfolding  subject,  shows  its  logical  relation  to  the 
whole,  supports  it  with  proof,  and  illuminates  it  with 
illustrations.  It  puts  flesh  on  the  bones  of  the  skeleton 
and  fills  it  out  with  blood  and  breath.  Care  should 
be  taken  to  state  facts  accurately  and  have  the  argu- 
ments sound  and  the  illustrations  pertinent. 

The  argument  of  the  sermon  should  appeal  to  the 
mind  in  a  train  of  reasoning,  presenting  facts  and  put- 
ting them  together  in  such  relations  that  they  will  lead 
to  a  logical  conclusion.  This  truth  should  then  be 
pressed  upon  the  conscience  and  emotions  so  as  to  stir 
up  the  feelings  of  sin  and  guilt  and  repentance,  of  duty 
to  God  and  faith  in  Christ,  of  the  obligation  and  worth 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON     301 

and  reward  of  righteousness  and  the  beauty  and 
blessedness  of  holiness.  It  should  awaken  earlv  tender 
associations  of  religious  training  and  memories.  It 
should  penetrate  into  the  deepest  feelings  and  instincts 
of  dependence  on  God  and  yearning  for  a  heavenly 
Father.  These  emotions  should  then  be  poured  as  a 
flood  upon  the  will  to  move  it  in  decision  and  action. 
This  is  the  true  psychological  order  in  preaching. 
Preaching  which  first  and  simply  aims  at  arousing  feel- 
ings by  playing  on  the  heartstrings  with  tender  mem- 
ories or  exciting  scenes  or  strong  fears  or  ecstatic 
hopes  may  create  a  brain-storm  of  excitement  and 
frenzy,  but  it  will  quickly  subside  and  leave  a  burnt- 
out  state  of  soul  as  hard  and  dead  as  cold  lava  or 
ashes,  the  last  state  worse  than  the  first.  Feeling  that 
grows  out  of  fact,  emotion  that  is  kindled  in  the  heart 
by  conviction  of  truth  in  the  mind,  has  deep  roots  and 
will  endure.  Such  feeling  is  fed  by  the  permanent 
supply  of  fuel  in  the  truth  and  continues  to  energize 
and  move  the  will.  The  argument  of  the  sermon  should 
keep  this  practical  point  in  view  and  concentrate  all  its 
facts  and  illustrations  and  logic  on  this  end. 

6.  The  Conclusion. — The  conclusion  should  bring 
the  message  of  the  sermon  to  its  climax  and  U»ave  it  at 
its  highest  point  of  interest  and  ellicioncy.  It  should 
gather  up  all  its  separate  parts  and  compact  and 
sharpen  them  into  one  point  and  press  this  point 
home  in  one  final  stroke.  It  should  send  the  i)ooi)le  out 
under  the  spell  of  a  great  thought  or  vision  that  will 
lead  them  on  to  victory. 

The  conclusion  should  come  as  soon  as  the  sermon 
is  (lone  and  not  be  continued  in  jin^longed  uncertainty. 
A  colh'ge  student  is  cre<lite<I  wilii  detining  an  oration 
as  consisting  of  three  parts:  "the  introducti(»n,  the 


302       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

body,  and  the  peroration.  The  introduction  is  what 
you  say  before  you  begin;  the  body  is  what  you  say; 
and  the  peroration  is  what  you  say  after  you  are 
done."  The  definition  applies  to  many  a  sermon.  The 
introduction  is  sometimes  what  the  preacher  says  be- 
fore he  begins.  He  fears  he  will  not  have  enough  ma- 
terial to  fill  out  the  time,  and  he  wanders  around, 
tramping  over  the  context  and,  incidentally,  over  the 
congregation,  until  he  really  begins.  And  then  the  con- 
clusion of  many  a  sermon  is  what  the  preacher  says 
after  he  is  done.  Many  a  preacher  does  not  know  when 
he  is  through  and  keeps  on  talking.  He  may  not  know 
that  he  is  done,  but  his  hearers  do.  The  preacher  that 
several  times  says,  '^  One  word  more,"  or  intimates  that 
he  is  through  and  then  continues  for  five  or  ten  min- 
utes more,  deceives  his  audience  and  might  be  arrested 
for  obtaining  their  attention  by  false  pretences.  Hav- 
ing given  them  the  prospect  of  welcome  relief  he  should 
keep  his  promise  and  give  them  what  they  want.  Many 
an  otherwise  good  sermon  has  been  spoiled  by  the  last 
five  or  ten  minutes  of  it.  It  lacked  terminal  facilities, 
and  superfluous  prolixity  ran  it  into  a  ditch.  It  is 
all  the  better  when  the  conclusion  comes  with  unex- 
pected suddenness.  It  is  far  better  that  the  sermon 
should  end  when  the  people  wish  it  would  keep  on,  than 
that  it  should  keep  on  when  they  wish  it  would  end.  It 
is  better,  in  approaching  a  precipice,  to  stop  too  soon 
than  too  late,  and  the  same  principle  applies  to  a 
sermon.  The  conclusion  should  never  be  left  ill  pre- 
pared and  vague  in  the  preacher's  mind  with  the  hope 
that  some  inspiration  will  come  to  him  at  the  end,  but 
he  should  have  the  conclusion  well  shaped  out  and 
sharpened  in  his  mind  and  at  the  proper  moment  drive 
it  home  and  stop. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON      303 

These  parts  of  a  sermon  have  been  considered  from 
the  point  of  view  of  psychological  interest,  and  this 
interest  grows  right  out  of  the  substance  and  spirit, 
foundation  and  framework  of  a  sermon,  and  is  not  a 
superficial  veneering  or  paint  put  on  the  outside  of  it, 
or  an  artificial  device  or  trick,  or  flower  or  tinsel  of 
cheap  ornamentation  that  is  tied  on  it.  It  is  a  subtle 
quality  or  spirit  that  pervades  the  whole  of  it;  not 
foam  on  its  surface,  but  effervescence  that  bubbles  up 
out  of  its  depths  and  gives  pungency  and  relish  to 
every  portion  and  particle  of  it.  The  bloom  of  the 
grape  is  not  painted  on  the  outside  but  is  secreted 
from  within,  and  the  fragrance  of  the  rose  comes  from 
its  root.  And  so  an  interesting  and  efficient  sermon  is  I 
one  that  has  a  worthy  subject,  attractively  stated,  1 
logically  unfolded,  and  effectively  applied,  and  that  t 
begins  at  the  beginning  and  quits  when  it  is  done.        \ 

II.    General  Characteristics  of  the  Sermon 

There  are  some  general  characteristics  of  the  ser- 
mon that  have  much  to  do  with  its  interest  and 
efticiency. 

I.  Style. — Prominent  if  not  foremost  among  these 
is  style.  The  preacher  should  not  only  have  sometiiing 
to  say,  but  he  should  also  know  how  to  say  it.  There 
are  therefore  few  things  that  a  preacher  should  more 
assiduouslv  strive  to  master  than  an  effective  style. 
Words  are  his  tools,  and  he  should  learn  to  use  them 
with  expert  accuracy  and  ease,  force  and  etllciency. 
Some  of  the  elements  of  ellVctive  pulpit  style  are 
lucidity,  siin|)li(ity,  conciseness,  force,  nn<l  beauty,  and 
we  shall   briellv  consider  several  of  these. 

(a)   The  primary  (jualily  of  ^ood  stvh^   is  lucidity, 

the  clearness  and  ease  with  which  lan;^.i..„v   is  uiuki- 


304j       the  psychology  OF  RELIGION 

stood.  The  preacher  should  speak  so  as  to  be  instantly 
understood,  and  when  he  does  not  do  this  he  probably 
does  not  understand  himself.  There  was  in  one  of  our 
theological  seminaries  an  Armenian  student  who  had 
poor  use  of  English  and  was  in  the  habit  of  saying  in 
answer  to  a  question,  "  Professor,  I  have  that  in  my 
mind,  but  I  cannot  express  it."  One  day  the  question 
was,  ^'  What  is  a  vacuum  ?  "  and  after  thinking  a  mo- 
ment the  student  answered,  "  I  have  it  in  my  mind. 
Professor,  but  I  cannot  express  it."  When  a  preacher 
thinks  he  has  something  in  his  mind  which  he  cannot 
express,  he  probably  has  a  vacuum  in  the  place  w^here 
his  idea  is  supposed  to  be. 

The  object  of  language  is  to  convey  thought  from  one 
mind  to  another,  and  it  should  do  this  with  the  least 
friction  and  loss.  Of  all  the  many  books  that  Herbert 
Spencer  produced  the  ones  that  will  probably  live  long- 
est are  not  his  ponderous  volumes  on  philosophy  and 
sociology,  but  two  small  ones,  his  essay  on  ''  The 
Philosophy  of  Style,"  ^  and  his  little  book  on  Education. 
His  essay  on  style  goes  to  the  root  of  the  philosophy 
of  style  by  showing  that  the  one  principle  that  explains 
all  the  rules  on  the  subject  of  good  style  is  economy 
of  effort  in  understanding  the  thought  expressed. 
After  enumerating  a  number  of  these  rules,  such  as 
simplicity  and  brevity  as  opposed  to  verbose  and  in- 
volved sentences,  the  use  of  Saxon  words  and  avoidance 
of  parentheses,  he  says :  "  On  seeking  some  clue  to  the 
law  underlying  these  current  maxims,  we  may  see 
Implied  in  many  of  them  the  importance  of  economiz- 
ing the  reader's  or  hearer's  attention.  To  so  present 
ideas  that  they  may  be  apprehended  with  the  least  pos- 

^  Published  separately  and  also  in  his  Essays,  Vol.  II,  pp. 
333-369. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON      305 

sible  mental  effort  is  the  desideratum  towards  which 
most  of  the  rules  above  quoted  point.  ...  A  reader 
or  listener  has  at  each  moment  but  a  limited  amount 
of  mental  power  available.  To  recognize  and  interpret 
the  symbol  presented  to  him  requires  part  of  this 
power;  to  arrange  and  combine  the  images  suggested  by 
them  requires  a  further  part ;  and  only  that  part  which 
remains  can  be  used  for  framing  the  thought  expressed. 
Hence,  the  more  time  and  attention  it  takes  to  receive 
and  understand  each  sentence,  the  less  time  and  atten- 
tion can  be  given  to  the  contained  idea;  and  the  less 
vividly  will  that  idea  be  conceived."  "  Let  us  then 
inquire  whether  economy  of  the  recipient's  attention  is 
not  the  secret  of  effect,  alike  in  the  right  choice  and 
collocation  of  words,  in  the  best  arrangement  of  clauses 
in  a  sentence,  in  the  proper  order  of  its  principal  and 
subordinate  propositions,  in  the  judicious  use  of  simile, 
metaphor,  and  other  figures  of  speech,  and  even  in  the 
rhythmical  sequence  of  sentences."  The  whole  essay  is 
of  inestimable  value  because  it  analyzes  the  psycho- 
logical laws  and  qualities  of  style  and  thereby  brings 
all  its  rules  under  one  root  principle. 

The  preacher  therefore  should  carefully  study  the 
matter  of  choosing  his  words  and  arranging  their  order 
and  constructing  his  sentences  and  paragraphs  so  that 
the  thought  will  slip  through  them  into  the  hearer's 
mind  with  the  least  friction  and  loss  of  meaning  on  his 
jiart,  leaping  from  the  speaker's  to  the  hearer's  mind  as 
light  shoots  from  the  sun  to  the  eye.  He  should  read 
over  and  listen  to  his  own  sentences  to  see  whether  they 
express  his  thought  with  this  clearm'ss  and  ease.  Trac- 
tice  will  improve  and  perfect  this  power  of  lucid  ex- 
l)ressi()n  until  iiiind  will  sp<»ak  to  mind  with  aluDst 
instantaneous  directness.    This  qn:ilit y  of  style  diverts 


306       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

the  attention  from  the  style  itself  and  concentrates  it 
upon  the  contained  thought.  Style  should  be  like  the 
sash  and  leads  in  a  window  which  occupy  as  little 
space  as  possible  so  as  to  let  the  more  light  through; 
so  style  should  be  so  lucid  as  not  to  hinder  or  obscure 
the  thought,  but  let  it  through  in  unobstructed  clear- 
ness. 

(&)  Another  vital  element  in  pulpit  style  is  force. 
The  thought  may  be  clearly  expressed  so  that  there  is 
no  mistaking  its  meaning,  but  it  does  not  strike  and 
stick  in  the  mind.  It  has  no  cutting  edge  like  a  sharp 
tool,  or  biting  power  like  an  acid,  but  it  rolls  off  the 
mind  like  water  off  a  roof.  Verbosity  and  prolixity 
and  commonplace  prosiness  are  fatal  to  force,  padding 
out  and  deadening  sentences  with  their  cushions  of 
superfluous  words.  Effort  should  be  made  to  eliminate 
unnecessary  words  and  phrases  and  to  condense  sen- 
tences into  compact  form  and  sharp  points.  Care 
should  be  taken  to  place  the  emphatic  word  in  a 
sentence  so  that  it  will  have  the  greatest  force.  A 
sentence  should  end  well,  not  ravelling  out  into  loose, 
vague  words,  but  rather  ending  in  a  knot  so  that  it 
will  crack  like  a  whip.  It  is  true  that  all  the  words 
and  sentences  in  a  sermon  cannot  be  equally  emphatic, 
and  there  is  such  a  thing  as  making  the  style  too  uni- 
formly forceful,  which  keeps  the  hearer's  attention  on 
a  strain  and  presently  defeats  itself.  There  should  be 
great  variety  in  the  style  of  a  sermon,  ranging  from 
the  low  levels  of  commonplace  narrative  to  the  peaks 
of  imaginative  vision  or  of  eruptive  power.  This  re- 
lieves and  varies  the  attention  and  keeps  the  interest 
fresh.  A  sermon  made  up  of  a  string  of  epigrams  and 
figures  of  speech  would  grow  tiresome,  just  as  a  dinner 
of  spiced  condiments  would  pall  upon  the  appetite. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON     307 

Force  should  be  distributed  so  that  at  times  it  will 
spread  itself  out  in  narrative  leisure  and  ease,  and 
then  concentrate  itself  into  brilliant  epigrams  and  ex- 
plosive aphorisms  and  strike  tremendous  blows. 

(c)  Still  another  element  of  effective  pulpit  st}i_e  is 
beauty.  Beauty  is  such  a  harmony  and  exquisite  pro- 
priefy  of  good  qualities  in  an  object  as  pleases  our 
esthetic  sense.  It  is  not  a  mere  ornament  that  could  as 
well  be  dispensed  with,  but  is  an  element  of  utility. 
''  Beauty,"  says  Victor  Hugo,  "  is  an  added  service." 
Thought  that  is  wrought  out  into  logical  consistency 
and  application  is  a  beautiful  product,  and  its  proper 
expression  shares  in  and  reflects  this  constitutional 
beauty.  The  proper  beauty  of  style,  therefore,  is  not 
the  external  adornment  of  flowery  writing,  but  is 
inherent  in  the  thought.  An  idea  does  not  reach  its 
fullest  and  finest  expression  until  it  has  been  edged 
with  beauty,  or  until  beauty  exudes  from  its  whole 
substance.  Thought  instinctively  seeks  for  and  incar- 
nates itself  in  choice  diction,  fitting  figures  and  illus- 
trations, the  diamonds  of  speech  in  which  it  can  flash 
forth  its  proper  forms  and  colours.  When  so  ex- 
pressed thought  is  far  more  efficient,  ministering  to  the 
esthetic  nature  and  calling  more  of  the  soul  into  activ- 
ity than  unadorned  prose. 

The  minister  should  study  this  art  and  acquire  the 
knack  and  habit  of  using  si)eech  that  has  form  and 
finish  and  is  jewelled  with  beauty.  He  needs  to  be  on 
his  guard  against  meretricious  forms  of  beauty,  flowery 
sentences  and  grandiloquent  words.  He  should  orna- 
ment construction  and  not  simply  construct  ornament. 
Beauty  of  style  should  come  from  the  thought,  as  the 
scarlet  flush  of  the  i>each  comes  from  its  stone  core,  and 
the  colour  of  the  cheek  and  the  splendour  of  the  eye 


308       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

from  the  blood.  We  should  first  take  care  of  our  ideas 
to  get  them  into  clear  and  consistent  shape,  and  then 
we  can  express  them  in  beautiful  speech.  Lucidity, 
force,  and  beauty  are  three  chief  elements  in  an  effec- 
tive pulpit  style. 

2.  Illustrations. — Illustrations  are  vital  and  vivid 
points  in  the  sermon,  and  in  nothing  do  great  preach- 
ers show  their  genius  more  than  in  this  art  and  power. 
An  illustration  is  a  concrete  instance  of  a  general  prin- 
ciple, a  diamond  that  shows  what  carbon  is.  The  gen- 
eral principle  may  be  abstract  and  vague  and  hard  to 
grasp;  carbon  as  a  chemical  element  is  difQcult  to 
visualize,  but  a  diamond  glows  and  flashes  with  light 
and  everybody  can  see  it.  A  sermon  that  has  no  illus- 
trations is  likely  to  be  abstract  and  dry,  but  one  that  is 
thickset  with  the  diamonds  of  concrete  instances  of  its 
general  principle  or  doctrine  will  sparkle  with  in- 
terest. 

The  poorest  illustrations  are  stories,  especially  those 
that  are  dragged  in,  screaming,  by  the  hair.  Great 
preachers  are  chary  of  them.  Phillips  Brooks  never 
used  them,  and  one  will  look  for  them  in  the  sermons 
of  Dr.  W.  L.  Watkinson,  one  of  the  greatest  masters  of 
illustration  of  our  day,  in  vain.  Stories  are  apt  to  be 
unreal,  of  doubtful  authenticity,  and  probably  coloured 
up  by  the  preacher  himself,  and  the  hearers  begin  to 
have  a  suspicion  that  they  never  happened.  An  inci- 
dent out  of  one's  personal  experience,  or  an  historical 
reference  or  event  of  definite  date,  may  be  very  effective, 
but  a  mere  story-teller  in  the  pulpit  is  likely  to  be 
a  shallow  preacher,  preaching  thin  and  watery  sermons. 

The  best  illustrations  are  picturesque  instances  of 
the  principle  being  presented  from  nature,  science,  art, 
literature,  and  daily  life.    A  preacher  with  a  homiletic 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON     309 

instinct  and  seeing  eye  finds  tongues  in  trees,  books  in 
the  running  brooks,  sermons  in  stones,  and  good  in 
everything.  All  nature  glitters  with  them  as  thick  as 
dew  on  the  morning  grass,  and  they  stare  the  preacher 
in  the  face.  The  most  effective  illustrations  grow  out 
of  life  and  are  concrete  bits  of  daily  happenings.  Noth- 
ing is  so  interesting  to  man  as  man  himself,  and  so  a 
sermon  should  have  little  abstract  reasoning  but  should 
be  crowded  full  of  the  living  reality  and  warm  breath 
of  human  life.  The  painter  always  puts  some  evi- 
dence of  human  presence  in  his  painting  to  give  it 
human  interest,  and  every  part  of  a  sermon  should  have 
in  it  the  red  blood  of  the  human  heart.  Human  life 
is  the  best  illustration  of  life,  and  therefore  the  most 
real  and  vital  illustrations  are  usuallv  drawn  from  life 
itself. 

Illustrations  out  of  cyclopedias  of  illustrations, 
"  canned  "  illustrations,  are  generally  stale  and  lack 
real  aptness  and  are  to  be  left  in  the  can  and  the  can 
kept  out  of  the  study.  Illustrations  should  spring 
right  out  of  the  subject  and  be  fresh  instances  of  it, 
like  blossoms  out  of  a  rosebush,  and  should  not  be  tied 
on  to  it  from  the  outside,  like  artificial  flowers  on  a 
tree.  And  a  good  illustration  as  a  rule  is  like  a  tack, 
short  and  sharp,  with  a  point  that  goes  right  in  and 
sticks.  An  illustration  that  is  long  and  complicated 
may  become  tedious  and  it  distracts  attention  from  the 
suhjert  itself  and  may  thus  defeat  its  o\m  end.  In 
fact,  illustrations  should  never  be  introduced  for  their 
brilliance  or  beauty  or  for  their  own  sake,  but  only  as 
they  contribute  to  the  clearness  and  interest  of  the 
subject.  The  best  illustrations  are  not  those  that  come 
marching  into  the  sermon  blowing  a  tninipct  or  beat- 
ing a  bass  drum,  but  those  that  crack  like  a  ritle,  and 


310      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

then  the  bullet  speeds  to  the  mark  and  the  work  of  the 
illustration  is  done. 

3.  Slang  and  Humour. — Some  preachers  try  to  make 
their  sermons  interesting  and  popular  by  sprinkling 
them  with  slang  and  language  from  the  street.  Some 
even  go  down  into  the  gutter  and  into  saloons  and  dens 
of  vice  and  drag  out  the  most  vulgar  and  degrading 
expressions,  and  their  sermons  reek  with  such  language 
as  with  garlic.  Such  fictitious  interest  is  a  flash  in 
the  pan,  and  not  the  steady  shining  of  a  light.  Few 
things  are  more  irreverent  and  offensive  in  the  pulpit 
than  such  coarse  and  vulgar  language,  and  such  preach- 
ers soon  run  their  course  and  find  their  level,  though 
occasionally  a  man  of  genius  can  offend  and  bear  the 
burden  of  his  offence;  yet  even  he  w^ould  be  stronger 
without  such  encumbrances.  The  pulpit,  however, 
should  not  be  monotonously  dignified  and  starchy,  but 
should  at  times  be  unconventional  and  free  and  may 
even  occasionally  be  made  vivid  and  vital  with  a  bit  of 
slang.  Slang  is  often  picturesque  speech  in  the  making, 
and  many  a  slang  word  or  phrase,  picked  up  out  of 
the  street  or  gutter,  has  become  classical  and  in  time 
sparkled  as  a  diamond  in  the  king's  English.  Col- 
loquialisms are  often  effective  in  the  pulpit,  and  any 
tool  of  speech  that  does  good  work  is  to  be  used. 
There  is  said  to  be  slang  in  the  Greek  New  Testa- 
ment, and  a  preacher  with  good  judgment  will  know 
how  to  use  this  effective  instrument  without  passing 
the  borders  of  propriety  and  taste. 

Humour  also  has  its  place  and  use  in  the  pulpit. 
There  is  humour  in  the  Bible,  Jesus  used  it,  and  it  is  a 
universal  principle  running  through  life  and  must  have 
its  place,  we  must  think,  in  the  mind  of  God.  A  sermon 
should  not  be  too  solemn,  at  least  every  sermon  should 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON      311 

not  be,  especially  with  long-faced  sanctimoniousness. 
The  funereal  air  and  tone  of  the  pulpit  have  done  much 
to  make  it  unpopular,  especially  have  they  made  it 
chilling  and  rejiellent  to  the  young.  Religion  is  good 
cheer  and  joy  and  has  affinity  with  all  bright  and 
pleasant  things,  sunshine  and  flowers,  music  and  glad- 
ness. We  ought  to  take  our  religion  seriously,  but 
not  too  seriousl3^  It  has  a  lighter  side  which  should 
not  be  refused  its  place  or  neglected.  A  dash  of  humour 
in  an  illustration  or  phrase  will  often  relieve  the  strain 
of  a  sermon,  relax  the  feelings,  and  give  the  hearer  a 
sense  of  rest  and  a  fresh  start.  And,  besides,  humour 
and  sarcasm  and  irony  are  often  most  effective  in  put- 
ting points  or  answering  objections  or  exposing  fal- 
lacies, as  is  often  seen  in  the  Bible  itself.  Great 
preachers  generally  have  a  sense  of  humour  and  infuse 
its  effervescence  and  sparkle  into  their  sermons. 
Spurgeon  and  Beecher  were  full  of  humour,  and  it  bub- 
bles up  out  of  their  sermons  and  gives  them  freshness 
and  zest.  Of  course  humour  ought  not  to  be  used  so 
as  to  raise  a  broad  laugh  and  destroy  the  sense  of 
reverence  and  worship,  but  within  proper  bounds  it 
has  its  place  and  power  in  a  sermon  and  helps  to 
preach  the  gospel. 

4.  Imagination. — The  imperial  power  of  imagination 
is  a  magic  sceptre  in  the  hand  of  the  preacher  that  can 
wield  it,  and  every  preacher  can  learn  to  use  it  in  some 
degree.     The  lirst  business  of  the  j  her  is  to  lead 

his  hearers  into  a  knowledge  of  the  truth,  and  he  will 
succeed  in  this  only  as  he  gets  them  to  visualize  or 
realize  it.  There  is,  of  course,  but  little  ojiportuiii ty 
for  presenting  religious  truth  through  the  sens4»s.  The 
Protestant  pivacher  has  no  images  or  holy  relics  to 
show.    Ouly  to  a  very  limited  extent  can  material  ob- 


312      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

jects  be  brought  into  the  pulpit  to  illustrate  spiritual 
truth,  though  pictures  and  moving  pictures  are  being 
used  in  some  pulpits  and  may  have  a  large  use  in  the 
future.  Being  shut  off  from  the  vividness  and  power 
of  direct  presentative  knowledge,  the  next  best  thing 
the  preacher  can  do  is  to  use  representative  images  in 
making  spiritual  truth  clear  and  vivid.  To  a  consider- 
able degree  the  preacher  must  deal  in  general  proposi- 
tions, abstract  conceptions :  these,  as  we  have  seen,  are 
the  weakest  and  least  interesting,  the  dryest  and  dull- 
est kind  of  knowledge,  especially  to  untrained  minds. 
The  preacher  must  try  to  brighten  up  and  intensify, 
enliven  and  enrich  these  abstract  conceptions  with 
imagination  so  as  to  turn  them  into  concrete  living 
images.  The  difference  between  the  interesting 
preacher,  who  keeps  every  eye  awake  and  sparkling 
with  eager  attention,  and  the  uninteresting,  dry 
preacher,  who  puts  everybody  into  a  dull,  drowsy  state, 
is  found  just  at  this  point.  The  one  sends  through  the 
minds  of  his  hearers  a  stream  of  living  images,  un- 
rolls before  their  imaginations  a  panorama  of  pictures, 
and  the  other  sends  through  their  minds  a  series  of 
abstract  propositions  that  simply  sound  solemn.  Such 
solemnity  is  closely  akin  to  somnolency. 

The  use  of  the  imagination  in  preaching  opens  a 
large  subject,  and  we  can  only  touch  it  at  a  few  points. 
Psychologists  classify  the  forms  and  functions  of  the 
imagination  in  various  ways,  but  for  our  purpose  we 
may  divide  them  into  the  creative,  the  illustrative,  and 
the  verbal. 

(a)  The  creative  imagination  is  the  highest  form  of 
this  faculty  and  puts  forth  the  most  splendid  products. 
In  its  creative  activity  the  imagination  takes  the  raw 
materials  of  the  world  and  works  them  up  into  new 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON      313 

forms  of  structure,  thought,  and  beauty.  The  poet 
weaves  them  into  musical  lines  and  fairy  visions,  the 
artist  spreads  them  on  his  canvas  in  forms  of  loveli- 
ness, the  musician  tunes  them  into  grand  chords  and 
sweet  melodies,  the  architect  builds  them  into  mighty 
cathedrals  that  have  in  them  some  of  the  majesty  and 
mystery  of  mountains.  The  psychological  poet,  such 
as  Shakespeare  or  Browning,  uses  his  imagination  in 
penetrating  into  the  profoundest  depths  of  the  human 
soul  and  bringing  its  secrets  to  light.  The  orator  uses 
it  in  framing  his  thoughts  into  mighty  orations  that 
sway  vast  multitudes  and  shape  nations  and  ages. 

The  preacher  may  use  this  creative  imagination  with 
wondrous  effect.  Great  preachers  almost  without  ex- 
ception have  been  endowed  with  princely  imagination, 
and  the}'  have  often  used  it  in  its  creative  activity. 
Mr.  Beecher  would  often  throw  scenes  in  the  Bible  and 
religious  truth  into  dramatic  form  and  act  them  out 
with  overpowering  effect.  Mr.  Moody  had  consider- 
able creative  imagination  by  which  he  could  enter  into 
the  heart  of  Scripture  scenes  and  sayings  and  repro- 
duce them  so  that  they  stood  out  in  lifelike  reality. 
For  instance,  listen  to  this  passage  from  one  of  his 
sermons : 

''  I  can  imagine  that  when  Christ  said  to  the  little 
band  around  him,  '  Go  ye  into  all  the  world  and  preach 
the  gosi)el,'  Peter  said,  '  Lord,  you  do  not  really  mean 
that  we  are  to  go  back  to  Jerusalem  and  preach  the 
gospel  to  those  men  that  murdered  you?'  'Yes,'  said 
Christ,  'go,  hunt  up  that  man  that  spat  in  my  face; 
tell  him  that  he  may  have  a  seat  in  my  kingdom  yet. 
Yes,  Peter,  go,  find  that  man  that  made  that  cruol 
crown  of  thorns  and  jilaccd  it  on  my  brow,  an<l  tell 
him  1  will  have  a  crown  ready  for  him  when  he  comes 


314       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

into  my  kingdom,  and  there  will  be  no  thorns  in  it. 
Hunt  up  that  man  that  took  a  reed  and  brought  it 
down  over  the  cruel  thorns,  driving  them  into  my  brow, 
and  tell  him  that  I  will  put  a  sceptre  in  his  hand,  and 
he  shall  rule  over  the  nations  of  the  earth,  if  he  will 
accept  my  salvation.  Search  for  the  man  that  drove 
the  spear  into  my  side,  and  tell  him  there  is  a  nearer 
way  to  my  heart  than  that.  Tell  him  I  forgive  him 
freely,  and  that  he  can  be  saved  if  he  will  accept  salva- 
tion.^ " 

This  realistic  bit  of  dramatic  description  brings  this 
scene  before  us  and  gives  us  a  sense  of  the  forgiving 
grace  of  Christ  that  no  amount  of  abstract  statement  or 
logical  reasoning  could  do.  Phillips  Brooks  possessed 
this  power  of  dramatic  imagination  in  a  rare  degree. 
His  biographer.  Prof.  Alexander  V.  G.  Allen,  in  de- 
scribing one  of  his  great  sermons,  remarks :  "  The 
subtlety  of  the  spiritual  imagination  that  enabled 
the  preacher  to  enter  into  the  mind  of  Christ  had  the 
effect  of  reproducing  the  scene,  as  though  Christ  him- 
self were  standing  in  bodily  presence  before  the  congre- 
gation. What  had  taken  place  those  centuries  ago 
was  repeating  itself  in  the  consciousness  of  many  on 
that  Sunday  afternoon."  ^ 

Such  imagination  is  a  gift  that  few  possess.  Genius 
is  a  native  endowment  and  cannot  be  acquired.  For 
a  plain  unwinged  soul  to  try  to  soar  in  such  flights  of 
imagination  in  the  pulpit  is  sure  failure  and  folly.  It 
is  only  a  step  from  the  sublime  to  the  ridiculous,  and 
many  a  preacher  has  taken  this  step  in  trying  to  be 
dramatic.  It  is  true  that  the  ordinary  preacher  may 
have  a  dramatic  vein  in  him,  and  it  is  well  for  him  to 
cultivate  it  and  use  it  judiciously,  but  this  is  a  point 

^  Life  and  Letters  of  Phillips  Brooks,  Vol.  II,  p.  123, 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON      315 

where  ambition  tempts  us  to  o'erleap  ourselves,  and 
we  need  to  keep  well  inside  our  limitations. 

(6)  Illustrative  imagination  consists  in  seeing  truth 
in  various  forms  and  using  a  familiar  and  vivid  form 
to  throw  light  on  a  less  familiar  form.  Almost  any 
truth  ramifies  the  whole  universe  and  turns  up  myriad 
manifestations  that  may  seem  to  have  no  connection 
with  one  another,  but  are  really  different  aspects  of 
the  same  thing.  Imagination  traces  these  hidden  links 
of  relation,  brings  distant  and  disparate  things  to- 
gether, and  uses  one  thing  to  illustrate  another.  Thus 
Newton  leaped  from  the  apple  to  the  moon,  saw  in  that 
falling  apple  all  the  worlds  falling  to  their  centres, 
and  bound  the  whole  universe  into  unity.  The  philoso- 
pher and  poet  and  man  of  imagination  will  take  any 
common  truth  and  trace  it  far  and  wide  through  the 
complex  web  of  the  world  and  in  the  most  hidden  and 
unexpected  places  will  show  its  gleaming  thread.  If 
we  cannot  see  and  understand  the  truth  in  one  of  its 
aspects  he  will  show  us  the  same  truth  in  another 
aspect  which  is  more  visible  and  vivid,  and  then  we 
see  it.  This  is  the  philosophy  of  ilhistration,  which  is 
so  great  a  power  in  the  hands  of  the  preacher.  Spirit- 
ual truth  runs  down  through  roots  and  rocks  to  the 
core  of  the  world  and  out  through  all  worlds  and  up 
to  God,  and  so  any  spiritual  truth  can  be  shown  to 
us  in  material  form  in  which  it  becomes  visible  and 
tangible.  Things  on  earth  are  copies  of  things  in 
heaven.  The  spiritual  truth  that  may  be  abstract  and 
shadowy,  hard  to  see  and  feel,  may  thus  be  made  as 
real  to  us  as  the  sights  and  sounds  of  the  material 
world. 

Jesus  was  a  master  of  illustration,  and  it  was  this 
that  made  his  preaching  pictuivsijue  and  interesting  80 


316      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

that  the  common  people  heard  him  gladly.  His  parables 
are  bits  of  dramatic  imagination  which,  if  nothing 
else  could  be  said  about  him,  would  rank  him  with  the 
great  dramatists.  These  parables  make  religion  as  real 
as  our  everyday  life  and  will  never  lose  their  charm 
and  power.  But  Jesus  also  sent  out  a  decree  that  all 
the  world  should  be  taxed  to  furnish  illustrations  for 
his  teaching.  The  fish  in  the  sea,  the  flower  by  the 
wayside,  the  grass  of  the  field,  the  vineyard  on  the 
hill,  the  birds  flying  in  the  air,  salt  and  sunshine, 
bread  and  water,  the  lost  sheep  in  the  wilderness  and 
the  lost  coin  in  the  house,  all  familiar  things  preached 
the  gospel  for  him  as  he  spoke,  and  the  commonest 
thing  became  luminous  and  eloquent  with  spiritual 
truth  under  the  touch  of  his  hand.  He  thus  brought 
religion  home  to  the  business  and  bosoms  of  his  hearers 
and  made  it  as  real  to  them  as  their  sowing  and  reap- 
ing, their  baking  and  their  building.  He  caused  their 
imaginations  to  dress  the  truth  up  in  these  everyday 
clothes,  and  then  they  recognized  it  and  grew  familiar 
with  it. 

This  is  still  the  business  of  the  preacher,  and  illus- 
trative imagination  is  still  one  of  the  most  effective 
means  of  doing  it.  Religious  truth  is  not  a  kind  of 
truth  that  stands  aloof  and  remote  from  the  rest  of 
life,  but  is  just  the  plain  principles  of  common  life 
run  up  to  their  highest  expression  and  application. 
Faith  in  God  is  the  same  principle  as  faith  in  man,  and 
obedience  to  him  as  the  obedience  of  a  child  to  its 
father  or  of  a  soldier  to  his  general.  The  common 
things  of  life  are  thus  the  truths  of  religion  in  a  lower 
and  more  familiar  form,  and  this  enables  us  to  use 
the  lower  as  illustrations  of  the  higher.  Imagination 
catches  these  familiar  facts  of  daily  life  and  sets  them 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON     317 

in  its  light  and  then  they  glow  with  higher  meaning 
and  are  seen  to  be  copies  of  things  in  heaven. 

The  preacher  that  abounds  in  true  and  striking  illus- 
trations is  making  spiritual  truth  visible  and  tangible, 
picturesque  and  beautiful,  so  that  it  is  as  real  to  his 
hearers  as  business  and  bread.  He  is  sending  a  series 
of  pictures  through  their  minds  that  not  only  are  pleas- 
ing to  them  but  keep  them  alive  and  alert  and  make  the 
truth  stand  out  before  them  in  living  reality.  Every 
preacher  knows  how  a  congregation  gives  increased 
attention  to  a  good  illustration;  the  reason  is  that 
just  at  that  point  they  begin  to  see  the  truth ;  imagina- 
tion has  kindled  it  in  their  minds  into  light  and  heat 
and  they  fc^l  its  power. 

(c)  By  verbal  imagination  is  meant  the  ordinary 
process  of  image-making  in  the  mind  by  which  it  forms 
pictures  of  things  and  thoughts.  Our  words  nearly  all 
have,  or  originally  had,  an  image  of  some  material 
thing  at  their  root,  and  these  etymological  pictures 
are  often  striking  and  beautiful.  Lady  means  the  loaf- 
giver,  the  daughter  is  the  milker,  and  to  be  astonished 
is  to  be  thunderstruck.  These  images  at  the  roots  of 
our  words  have  in  many  cases  been  covered  up  and 
lost,  and  now  the  words  are  only  arbitrary  names  for 
us;  but  when  we  dig  down  to  their  roots  we  tind  their 
colours  still  fresh  and  beautiful.  Primitive  language 
was  thus  more  picturesque  and  vivid  than  our  abstract 
speech.  But  hosts  of  our  words  still  retain  this  image- 
making  power,  and  these  are  the  most  etfective  words 
in  making  our  si>ee('h  colourful  an<l  forceful.  All 
names  of  concrete  things,  such  as  horse,  tree,  mountain, 
are  of  this  nature  and  create  pictures  in  the  mind. 
Such  W(»i-ds  as  red,  green,  scarU't,  river,  s<»a,  shore, 
sky  seem  to  brand  themselves  on  the  brain;  whereas 


318       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

abstract  words,  such  as  virtue,  generalization,  rela- 
tivity, create  vague  impressions  that  are  but  dimlj 
perceived  and  felt.  The  use  of  language  is  thus  a 
constant  exercise  of  the  imagination  which  brings  a 
series  of  pictures  before  the  mind. 

In  all  writing  and  speaking  the  aim  should  be  to 
put  in  as  many  as  possible  of  these  picture-making 
words.  In  telling  anything  we  should  first  try  to  see 
it  vividly  and  then  tell  it  so  that  others  will  see  it  also. 
For  instance,  Macaulay  wants  to  tell  us  that  history 
has  little  to  say  about  the  common  people,  but  he  does 
not  put  it  in  this  general  abstract  form.  He  says: 
"  History  is  silent  about  those  who  held  the  plough,  who 
tended  the  oxen,  who  toiled  at  the  looms  of  Norwich, 
and  squared  the  Portland  stone  for  St.  Paul's."  Here 
we  see  the  men  holding  the  plough  and  cutting  stone 
for  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  and  the  picture  stands  out 
vividly  before  us.  Carlyle  tells  us  that  Sir  Walter 
Raleigh  was  executed  "  on  a  cold,  hoar-frosty  morn- 
ing," and  this  bit  of  description  helps  us  to  realize 
the  scene.  The  poets,  of  course,  have  this  power  in 
the  highest  degree  and  it  is  the  very  soul  of  poetry. 
What  a  picture  of  Ruth  in  a  foreign  land  Keats  gives 
us  in  two  lines : 

When  sick  for  home, 
She  stood  in  tears  amid  the  alien  corn. 

( 

Or  what  a  picture  of  the  setting  sun  does  Coleridge 
draw  with  a  few  swift  strokes  in  the  "  Ancient 
Mariner  " :  • 

The  sun's  rim  dips;  the  stars  rush  out; 
At  one  stride  comes  the  dark. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON      319 

How  sharp  and  clear  and  startling  are  these  de- 
scriptions, how  every  word  tells.  The  remarkable  effect 
is  largely  achieved  through  the  verbal  imagination 
embodied  in  the  very  words. 

This  diffused  imagination,  while  it  is  not  so  princely 
in  its  power  as  the  creative,  or  so  showy  as  the  illus- 
trative imagination,  is  yet  of  high  eflSciency  in  impart- 
ing to  style  the  qualities  of  lucidity,  freshness,  and 
force.  It  makes  every  page  picturesque,  every  line 
alive.  Such  language  lives  and  breathes  and  speaks 
to  every  sense.  The  preacher  needs  above  all  other  men 
to  think  in  concrete  terms,  clear-cut  images,  that  will 
create  pictures  in  the  minds  of  his  hearers  so  that  they 
will  see  the  truth.  His  language  should  be  saturated 
with  imagination,  and  then  he  will  flood  their  minds 
with  currents  of  living  thought.  Such  a  preacher  must 
necessarilv  utter  manv  general  truths  and  abstract  con- 
ceptions,  but  the  stream  of  his  ideas  will  be  brightened 
and  intensified  with  concrete  images  that  will  be  so 
many  luminous  points  in  it  that  will  irradiate  the 
whole  course  of  thought.  His  imagination  will  be 
constantly  using  verbal  images  and  shaping  picturesque 
phrases  that  will  turn  the  minds  of  his  hearers  into  a 
gallery  of  truth. 

5.  The  Spirit  of  the  Sermon. — The  sermon  has  a 
subtle  spirit  or  soul  that  has  nnich  to  do  with  (U'ler- 
niiiiing  its  persuasive  power.  The  trulh-seeking  spirit 
of  honesty  and  candour  shouhl  pervade  it  in  all  parts. 
The  pi'oacher  shonhl  bcwni-e  of  exaggeration  and  mis- 
representation of  every  kind  and  degi-ee.  His  s[)irit 
and  style  of  argument  should  be  such  as  will  beget 
confidence  in  his  mental  and  moral  trustworthiness. 
There  should  be  as  little  as  possible  of  the  controversial 
spirit  in  his  sermons.     It  should  never  api)ear  that  he 


320      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

is  mainly  bent  on  proving  liimself  right  and  others 
wrong.  In  stating  the  position  of  opponents,  he  should 
be  scrupulously  fair  and  state  their  views  as  they  would 
state  them  themselves.  In  dealing  with  doubt  he  should 
be  sympathetic  and  tender  and  follow  the  example  of 
Jesus  in  dealing  with  John  the  Baptist's  doubt.  He 
should  be  especially  on  his  guard  against  the  dogmatic 
spirit  and  dictatorial  air  that  settles  everything  by 
his  own  ipse  dixit.  If  Jehovah  could  condescend  to 
say  to  refractory  Judah  through  the  prophet  Isaiah, 
^'  Come  now,  and  let  us  reason  together,"  and  if  Jesus 
could  constantly  and  patiently  reason  with  his  hearers, 
how  much  more  should  the  preacher  stand  down  on  a 
level  with  his  people  and  speak  to  them  as  a  brother 
man  in  the  spirit  of  candour  and  humility. 

The  protection  of  the  pulpit  that  hedges  the  preacher 
around  with  its  sacredness  is  one  of  his  dangers.  The 
teacher  and  lawyer  and  most  public  speakers  are  sub- 
ject to  interruption,  contradiction,  and  correction  on 
the  spot ;  and  this  tends  to  make  them  careful  in  their 
statements.  But  the  preacher  in  the  pulpit  is  in  a 
bombproof.  No  one  can  strike  back  at  him  or  would 
think  of  interrupting  him.  As  a  consequence  he  can  do 
as  he  pleases:  twist  texts,  garble  quotations,  misrep- 
resent opponents,  use  illogical  reasoning  or  fallacious 
illustrations.  To  make  a  statement  striking  or  give 
brilliancy  to  a  point  he  can  strain  the  truth.  He  has 
everything  his  own  w^ay  and  can  carry  it  with  a  high 
hand.  He  can  make  personal  allusions  and  hits  and 
grow  sarcastic  and  spiteful.  He  feeds  on  his  own 
dogmatism  and  grows  intensely  overbearing.  He  leaves 
no  room  for  difference  of  view.  To  doubt  him,  one 
would  think,  is  to  doubt  God.  Said  Senator  Carpenter 
of  Charles  Sumner :   "  He  identifies  himself  so  com- 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON      321 

pletely  with  the  universe  that  he  is  not  at  all  certain 
whether  he  is  a  part  of  the  universe,  or  the  universe  is 
a  Dart  of  him.  You  will  soon  see  the  Sermon  on  the 
Mount  revised,  corrected,  and  greatly  enlarged  and  im- 
proved by  Charles  Sumner."  The  preacher  is  in  danger 
of  acquiring  a  touch  of  this  spirit,  and  he  should  guard 
against  it  by  cultivating  the  spirit  of  honesty,  reason- 
ableness, sincerity,  humility,  and  truth. 

^The  sermon  should  throb  with  a  spirit  of  reverence, 
of  loyalty  to  Christ,  and  of  a  passion  for  souls.  The 
hearers  should  feel  that  the  sermon  comes  from  the 
soul  of  a  friend  whose  heart's  desire  and  prayer  unto 
God  is  that  they  may  be  saved. 

III.    Manner  and  Delivery 

The  manner  of  the  preacher  and  the  delivery  of  the 
sermon  are  vital  factors  in  the  psychological  efficiency 
of  preaching,  and  they  are  briefly  touched  on  in  this 
connection  only  as  they  are  related  to  this  point. 

I.  The  Manner  of  the  Preacher. — The  dress  and  be- 
haviour of  the  minister  in  the  pulpit  should  be  such 
as  not  to  attract  attention  to  themselves  and  thereby 
distract  it  from  the  sermon.  The  preacher  should  be 
quietly  and  becomingly  dressed.  If  a  gown  is  not  worn, 
conventional  dress  is  best,  neither  extremely  in  fashion 
nor  out  of  it.  Anything  that  suggests  either  slovenli- 
ness or  foppery  is  out  of  place  and  ofl'cnsive  in  the 
jmlpit.  The  preacher's  behaviour  should  l)e  reverential 
and  worsliipful.  He  should  enter  the  pulpit  and  sit 
down,  having  made  all  his  ari'angeinents  for  the  si*rvice 
beforehand.  Some  ministers  as  soon  as  they  enter  the 
pulpit  grow  restless  and  get  busy  with  all  sorts  of 
thin^^s.  Th<'y  turn  and  give  directions  to  the  organist 
or  choir  leader,  go  down  and  consult  an  elder  or  give 


322       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

orders  to  the  janitor,  or  they  are  seen  selecting  hymns 
and  Scripture  passages,  and  if  a  visiting  minister  is  in 
the  pulpit  they  strike  up  a  conversation  with  each 
other.  All  such  things  are  out  of  order  and  distracting 
to  the  congregation  and  to  the  spirit  of  worship.  The 
minister  should  make  all  his  preparations  before  enter- 
ing the  pulpit  and  should  then  reverently  conduct  the 
service.  To  be  restless  and  fidgety  and  fussy,  running 
about  after  many  things,  is  as  improper  and  disorderly 
in  him  as  in  anybody  else,  and  he  should  be  the  first 
to  do  "  all  things  decently  and  in  order." 

2.  The  Delivery  of  the  Sermon. — The  delivery  may 
be  three-fourths  of  the  sermon,  and  this  involves  the 
whole  art  of  elocution.  For  the  sake  of  completeness 
a  few  hints  are  offered.  The  general  rule  governing 
delivery  is  the  same  as  Herbert  Spencer's  principle 
regarding  style — namely,  it  should  convey  the  message 
to  the  hearers  with  the  least  effort  and  loss  of  meaning 
on  their  part  and  with  the  greatest  effect.  This  means 
that  everything  is  to  be  excluded  from  the  delivery  that 
hinders  the  conveyance  of  the  thought  and  that  dis- 
tracts attention  from  the  sermon  to  its  delivery.  The 
best  delivery  is  that  which  is  least  observed  and  leaves 
the  most  mental  energy  for  attention  to  the  thought  of 
the  sermon.  All  mere  mannerisms  that  only  attract  the 
attention  of  the  hearers  to  the  delivery  and  perhaps 
offend  their  judgment  and  taste  are  psychologically 
wrong. 

(a)  The  primary  virtue  of  delivery  is  distinctness. 
The  speaker  should  make  himself  heard,  or  there  is  no 
use  in  his  speaking  at  all,  and  he  may  only  aggravate 
his  audience.  Distinctness  of  utterance  means  clean- 
cut  enunciation  of  the  syllables,  especially  of  the  con- 
sonants, so  that  they  will  leave  the  mouth  of  the  speaker 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON     323 

as  clearly  defined  words.  Distinctness  is  not  loud- 
ness of  voice,  for  often  increased  loudness  only  in- 
creases the  indistinctness  so  that  the  more  sound  the 
less  sense.  Some  ministers  mutilate  and  muffle  their 
words,  especially  the  last  syllables,  so  that  they  are 
clogged  up  and  smothered  back  in  the  throat,  whereas 
the  words  should  be  ejected  through  the  teeth  and  lips 
as  the  sharply  minted  coins  of  speech.  Other  ministers 
clutter  up  their  sentences  with  hems  and  haws  and 
other  unnamable  grunts  that  appear  to  be  a  way  of 
filling  up  vacancies  in  the  stream  of  speech  while  they 
are  trying  to  think  of  the  next  word  or  idea,  and 
these  raucous  noises  not  only  injure  distinctness  but 
are  very  offensive.  Any  one  with  a  little  care  can  learn 
to  speak  distinctly,  and  this  will  enable  a  voice  of  very 
moderate  power  to  be  heard  in  the  average  church 
auditorium. 

(6)  Varying  modulation  by  which  the  delivery  is 
adapted  to  the  varying  thought  is  the  next  virtue  in 
pulpit  speech.  One  of  the  most  common,  as  it  is  also 
one  of  the  most  fatal,  faults  in  pulpit  delivery  is  the 
monotone  in  which  the  preacher  drones  away  with  little 
change  of  pitch  and  emphasis.  The  wonderful  instru- 
ment of  the  human  voice  is  thus  robbed  of  its  variotv 
and  music,  as  though  a  violin  had  all  its  range  and 
richness  reduced  to  monotonous  and  exasperating  saw- 
ing on  one  string.  This  singsong  utterance  quickly 
kills  attention  and  has  a  strange  sojiorific  power  that 
soon  tells  on  the  most  pious  deacon.  The  delivery 
should  change  in  its  level  of  tone  and  degree  of  em- 
phasis with  every  change  in  the  thouglit.  Narrative  or 
unimi>ortant  passages  can  be  hurried  n|>  and  more 
emphatic  passages  can  be  slowed  down  in  sjK^ed.  lym- 
phatic words  should  always  stiind  out  by   increased 


824       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

stress  or  other  modulation  of  the  voice.  Parts  of  the 
sermon  may  be  calm  and  smooth  as  a  limpid  stream, 
and  other  parts  may  become  charged  with  feeling  and 
power  as  a  flood  in  its  furj.  The  preacher  need  only 
listen  to  his  own  thought  and  give  natural  expression 
to  it,  and  his  delivery  will  largely  take  care  of  itself. 

(c)  Pulpit  delivery  has  changed  in  our  day  from  the 
former  rotund  and  grandiloquent  oratory  to  a  conver- 
sational style  of  speech.  The  minister  is  a  man  with 
a  message,  and  he  should  simply  speak  to  his  hearers 
as  he  would  to  friends.  Oratory  that  gets  high  and  hot 
and  waxes  eloquent  and  tears  passions  to  tatters  is 
out  of  date,  and  the  people  want  to  be  spoken  to  with 
directness  and  simplicity.  The  greatest  preachers  are 
masters  of  this  style  of  address.  Of  John  McNeill  it 
is  said :  "  He  speaks  as  though  he  were  talking  to  men. 
He  is  not  lacking  in  oratorical  graces,  but  he  does  not 
appear  to  be  thinking  of  anything  but  his  theme  and 
audience.  There  is  a  self-consciousness  which  is  charm- 
ing, and  an  absence  of  all  unnatural  and  artificial  man- 
nerisms that  is  winning.  Mr.  McNeill  is  in  the  pulpit 
the  same  talker  that  he  is  in  the  parlour."  ^  Mr. 
Beecher  was  a  master  of  this  style  of  delivery,  and  it  is 
ever  the  most  popular  and  effective. 

"All  great  art  is  simple.  The  ability  to  be  simple, 
honest,  and  truthful  is  the  supreme  measure  of  the 
artist.  Fine  elocution  is  worse  than  fine  writing. 
There  must  be  no  stiltedness,  no  straining  for  effect. 
The  primary  questions  for  the  reader  to  ask  himself 
are — Do  I  realize  this  passage?  Do  I  see  every  scene 
as  if  I  were  there  myself?  Are  the  characters  about 
which  I  read  and  whose  words  I  quote  really  men  and 

*  The  Work  of  Preaching,  by  Arthur  S.  Hoyt,  p.  341. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  THE  SERMON     325 

women?  Do  I  simply  and  directly  express  the  activity 
of  my  own  thinking,  my  own  imagination?  Do  I  reveal 
the  experience  of  my  own  heart  in  response  to  the 
truth?  "1 

(d)  As  to  gestures,  the  fewer,  down  to  a  low  limit, 
the  better.  The  preacher  that  is  constantly  sawing 
and  pawing  the  air  and  flinging  his  arms  about  and 
gesticulating  violently  is  not  controlling  himself  and 
is  distracting  attention  from  his  subject  to  his  gym- 
nastics. Gestures  are  proper  and  may  greatly  facilitate 
conve3ing  the  thought  of  the  sermon;  gestures  may 
even  be  eloquent,  and  so  may  pauses,  for  silence  is  as 
necessary  and  may  be  as  significant  in  speech  as  sound ; 
but  these  aids  are  effective  only  when  they  are  kept  in 
restraint  in  the  background  and  do  not  become  a  show 
in  themselves.  Studied  gestures,  the  mechanical  rais- 
ing of  the  arm  as  angular  and  awkward  as  though  it 
were  a  wooden  arm  moved  by  some  hidden  machinery 
which  we  can  almost  hear  creak,  self-conscious  gestures, 
are  bad.  The  best  gestures  usually  grow  out  of  the 
thought  and  may  be  quite  unconscious.  "  Give  me 
something  to  say,"  says  Emerson,  ''  and  hands  and  feet 
will  take  care  of  themselves."  No  amount  of  violent 
gesticulation  will  cover  the  nakedness  of  an  empty 
sermon,  but  one  full  of  thought  will  usually  find  its  own 
proper  expression.  Both  delivery  and  gestui-es  are 
rooted  back  in  the  mind,  and  the  first  and  most  im- 
portant thing  is  to  fill  the  mind,  and  then  let  its  con- 
tents gush  out.  This  does  not  mean  that  no  attention 
is  to  be  given  to  these  arts,  for  they  should  receive 
the  most   painstaking  care,  but   they  are  to  be   kept 

»  Vocal  and  Literary  Interpretation  of  the  liible.  by  S.  S.  Curry, 
p.  319.  Thi.H  is  ont*  of  tho  most  sugKentivo  nnd  \y*'*i  l>ook8  on 
reading  the  Bible,  and  ita  principles  also  apply  to  speaking. 


326      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

hidden  in  the  thought.  Anything  in  the  manner,  de- 
livery, or  gestures  of  the  preacher  that  attracts  atten- 
tion to  these  aids  distracts  attention  from  the  sermon 
and  detracts  from  its  eflSciency. 


CHAPTER  VIII 
THE  BROADER  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  PREACHING 

THE  psychology  of  preaching  as  considered  in  the 
preceding  chapter  was  confined  to  the  sermon 
and  its  delivery.  But  there  is  a  broader  psy- 
chology of  preaching  than  that  of  the  sermon,  and 
this  is  the  general  soil  of  the  minister's  culture  and 
personality  out  of  which  his  sermons  grow,  and  the 
tracing  of  the  psychological  roots  of  preaching  will  take 
us  down  into  this  subsoil.  The  study  of  the  Bible,  of 
theology,  and  of  homiletics  is  the  lifelong  work  of  the 
minister,  and  it  is  assumed  that  he  is  always  a  sys- 
tematic  student  in  these  fields.  But  a  sermon  grows 
out  of  much  more  than  these  special  studies  or  the 
particular  study  of  the  text  on  which  it  is  based. 
Every  sermon  springs  out  of  the  whole  life  of  the 
man  that  preaches  it.  As  every  seed  draws  on  the  soil 
and  the  shower  and  the  sun  so  that  it  takes  the  whole 
solar  system  to  make  a  single  grain  of  wheat  or  blade  of 
grass,  so  every  sermon  sinks  its  roots  down  through 
all  the  years  of  the  preacher  and  is  the  outgrowth  of 
his  total  experience.  Or  as  a  river  is  composed  of 
drops  that  have  fallen  out  of  the  sky  over  many  thou- 
sands of  sfjuare  miles,  so  a  preacher's  sermon  is  com- 
posed of  multitudinous  droj)s  that  have  fallen  out  of 
his  whole  life.  Mr.  Beechcr  was  v\\i]\{  wlicn  he  said 
it  took  him  forty  years  to  make  a  certain  sernwiii, 
though  he  spent  only  a  few  hours  on  its  special  prepa- 
ration. 

827 


328      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

One  of  the  poorest  ways  to  make  sermons  is  just  to 
study  texts  and  sermons  and  nothing  else.  The  ex- 
perienced preacher  in  time  finds  that  his  sermon  mak- 
ing becomes  subordinate  and  incidental  to  his  general 
study.  Everything  he  reads  or  does,  however  trivial, 
is  sure  sooner  or  later  to  crop  out  in  a  sermon  in  some 
illustration  or  turn  of  thought  or  phrase  or  word, 
Ruskin  said  that  he  would  use  the  devil  himself,  if  he 
could  catch  him,  for  black  paint;  and  so  the  preacher 
can  use  everything,  however  unrelated  or  unpromising 
it  may  seem,  in  his  sermons.  Hence  the  importance 
to  the  minister  of  that  broader  culture  which  will  form 
the  rich  soil  out  of  which  good  sermons  can  grow. 
A  barren  soil  is  sure  to  raise  poor  sermons.  A  small 
man  cannot  preach  a  big  sermon  because  he  does  not 
have  the  breadth  and  depth  of  experience  out  of  which 
a  big  sermon  can  come.  The  minister  that  is  con- 
stantly broadening  his  brain  and  enriching  his  heart 
through  general  culture  is  engaged  in  the  best  prepara- 
tion for  sermon-making.  A  book  on  any  subject,  how- 
ever remote  it  may  seem  from  his  preaching,  will  add 
something  to  the  richness  of  the  soil  out  of  which  his 
sermons  grow. 

The  minister,  then,  should  live  a  broad  life  and  strike 
his  roots  down  through  many  strata.  He  should  send 
out  a  decree  that  all  the  world  shall  be  taxed  in  the 
interest  of  his  intellectual  life  and  his  sermons.  He 
should  beware  of  wearing  down  into  narrow  profes- 
sional ruts,  but  should  range  widely  and  freely  over  the 
world.  He  should  have  hobbies  on  which  he  can  ride 
far  away  from  his  pulpit,  and  then  he  will  bring  back 
unexpected  materials  for  his  proper  work.  Every  min- 
ister must  choose  his  own  general  studies  and  hobbies, 
those  that  appeal  to  his  aptitudes  and  tastes,  but  there 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  PREACHING  329 

are  several  of  these  fields  that  no  minister  can  afford 
to  neglect. 

I.    The  Study  of  Nature 

The  first  of  these  is  the  study  of  nature.  The  natural 
sciences  are  especially  fruitful  fields  for  the  minister. 
They  open  the  book  of  nature,  that  older  bible  that 
rolled  from  the  hand  of  the  Creator  ages  before  Moses 
wrote  and  David  sang.  Astronomy  has  ever  been  a 
favourite  science  with  the  theologian  and  preacher,  as 
it  displays  the  Creator's  mighty  plan  and  power,  and 
the  beauty  and  grandeur,  majesty  and  mystery  of  his 
creation  in  all  the  wonders  of  the  skies.  This  study 
will  not  only  immensely  widen  the  preacher's  concep- 
tion of  the  universe,  but  will  broaden  his  thoughts  on 
all  subjects,  and  it  will  stimulate  his  imagination  and 
give  him  many  of  his  best  illustrations.  Geology  is 
another  science  that  is  a  rich  field  for  the  minister,  as 
it  turns  up  the  rocky  leaves  of  the  globe  and  enables  him 
to  decipher  the  hieroglyphics  which  record  its  long  and 
wonderful  evolution.  The  study  of  science  draws  tlie 
minister  off  from  his  professional  studies  and  gives  him 
a  liberal  education;  it  disciplines  his  mind  in  the  sci- 
entific spirit  of  truth-seeking  and  stores  it  with  rich 
materials  for  his  sermons. 

It  is  the  study  of  nature  in  the  open,  however,  that 
we  wish  more  especially  to  commend  to  ministers.  In 
fiehl  and  forest,  stream  and  rock,  he  can  study  nature 
at  first  hand  and  l)ecome  an  expert  in  some  natural 
science,  such  as  geology  or  botany,  and  this  has  proved 
an  opulent  mine  for  many  a  minister. 

A  fruitful  means  of  the  broader  culture  for  the  min- 
istry is  the  s^'stomatic  exercise  of  walking.  In  these 
days  of  electric  cars  and  automobiles,  and  now  of  the 


330       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

airship,  we  are  almost  in  danger  of  losing  the  use  of 
our  legs.  While  it  is  said  in  the  Scriptures  that  the 
Lord  delighteth  not  in  the  legs  of  a  man,  it  is  nowhere 
written  that  we  are  not  to  delight  in  them  ourselves. 
Walking  is  a  form  of  recreation  that  requires  no  ex- 
pensive apparatus  and  is  never  far  awaj.  The  average 
minister  in  a  few  minutes  can  get  his  feet  off  the  pave- 
ments down  on  the  green  grass  of  the  fields  and  into 
the  soft  leaves  and  mellow  loam  of  the  forest.  Such 
walking  at  times  may  be  brisk  and  carry  us  with  vigor- 
ous strides  along  the  roads  and  over  the  hills,  so  as  to 
stir  the  blood  and  send  it  leaping  in  a  ruddy  tide 
through  all  the  arteries  and  veins,  and  again  it  may  be 
a  lazy  loitering  and  dreamy  drifting  through  fields  and 
forests,  so  as  to  let  nature  whisper  her  secrets  to  us 
lovingly  and  let  her  wine  soak  in  through  our  pores. 
What  are  some  of  the  advantages  of  such  walks  to 
ministers? 

I.  Good  Health. — First,  good  health.  A  sound  body 
is  the  physical  basis  of  a  sound  preacher  and  a  good 
sermon.  A  sick  preacher  with  a  torpid  liver,  dyspeptic 
stomach,  sallow  complexion,  whining  voice,  dejected 
look,  and  pessimistic  air  will  preach  a  sick  sermon 
that  will  make  his  congregation  sick.  But  ruddy 
health  is  contagious  and  will  radiate  from  the  sermon 
and  infect  the  people.  The  minister's  study,  stuffed 
with  stagnant  air,  is  one  of  his  dangers.  He  should 
therefore  breathe  and  work  and  live  in  pure  air.  A 
walk  in  the  open  of  two  or  three  hours  once  or  twice 
a  week  will  oxygenize  his  blood,  renovate  all  his  organs, 
shoot  splendour  into  his  eyes,  and  plant  roses  in  his 
cheeks.  It  is  a  bath  in  God's  universal  health.  Long 
enough  has  the  preacher  been  a  pale,  anemic  man, 
panting  for  breath  and  appealing  to  the  sympathies  of 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  PREACHING  331 

his  female  parishioners  while  incurring  the  pity  if  not 
the  contempt  of  his  men.  He,  too,  needs  to  be  a  man 
with  stout  bones,  red  blood  and  deep  lungs,  a  manly 
man  in  body  as  well  as  in  soul ;  and  to  be  such  a  man 
he  should  take  care  of  his  health  and  drink  deep  from 
nature's  own  springs. 

2.  Intimate  Acquaintance  with  Nature. — A  second 
result  of  such  recreation  is  intimate  acquaintance  with 
nature.  We  soon  begin  to  grow  acquainted  with  the 
fields  and  woods,  and  the  birds  will  greet  us  as  friends; 
we  shall  experience  a  thrill  of  pleasure  in  the  spring  at 
the  first  robin's  note  or  the  first  flash  of  a  bluebird's 
wing.  The  flowers  will  speak  to  us  in  their  own  lan- 
guage and  the  trees  grow  familiar  in  leaf  and  bark. 
Every  season  and  day  will  have  its  own  charm,  and 
stormy  weather,  when  the  wind  and  rain  slap  the  skin 
into  a  glow  of  health,  wull  be  as  enjoyable  as  a  June 
morning.  All  this  will  open  a  new  field  of  education 
and  pour  a  fresh  stream  of  illustrations  into  our  minds. 
Earth  and  sea  and  sky,  forest,  vine,  and  flower  will 
become  eloquent  with  spiritual  truth,  and  we  shall 
embroider  our  sermons  with  quotations  from  nature  as 
Jesus  did.  A  lover  of  nature  can  hardly  be  a  dry 
preacher.  Bits  of  green  grass  and  blue  sky,  bird  notes 
and  flower  blossoms  will  creep  into  his  sermons  and 
give  them  freslmer^s  and  charm. 

3.  A  Good  Thinking  Shop.— Nature  in  the  open  is  a 
good  thinking  sh()[)  for  the  minister.  The  fresh  air,  the 
loftv  dome  of  the  skv,  the  far  horizon,  the  solitude  and 
silence  have  a  strange  stimulating  and  fertilizing  in- 
fluence on  the  soul.  They  often  clear  up  our  minds, 
smooth  out  our  perplexities,  and  put  us  in  our  best 
moods.  Problems  often  solve  themselves,  we  know  not 
how,  when  we  are  in  communion  with  nature.     Our 


332      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

best  thoughts  often  then  come  flocking  around  us  and 
build  their  nests  in  our  brains  and  in  our  hearts.  We 
see  things  more  clearly  in  the  pure  air  and  have 
broader  visions  on  a  hilltop.  Trials  that  loom  large 
upon  us  down  in  the  murky  atmosphere  of  the  valley 
grow  petty  up  on  the  summit,  and  duties  that  were 
drudgery  below  shine  out  in  splendour  as  they  are 
transfigured  on  the  heights.  The  hilltop  cures  us  of 
many  of  our  worries  by  encircling  them  with  a  wider 
horizon  and  overshadowing  them  with  a  vaster  dome. 
Perspective  is  needed  to  give  right  proportion  and  value 
to  life,  and  we  get  a  larger  and  truer  scale  of  measure- 
ment on  the  unhampered  summits  than  down  in  the 
cabined  valley.  The  great  world  then  imparts  to  us 
some  of  its  spaciousness  and  serenity.  We  seem  nearer 
to  God  in  the  solitudes  of  nature  where  we  can  hear 
his  still  small  voice  more  clearly  than  where  cross  the 
crowded  ways  of  man. 

A  restful  calm  steals  through  the  wearied  soul 
When,  drifting  lazily,  in  dreamy  mood, 
Through  flowery  field  and  tangled,  leafy  wood, 

We  merge  the  self  in  nature's  larger  whole. 

The  fevered  pulse,  when  bathed  in  this  deep  stream 
Of  pure  serenity  and  silent  power, 
Forgets  the  gnawing  worries  of  the  hour, 

And  feels  its  throbbings  soothed  to  peace  serene. 

When  nature's  vast  unplumbed  environment 
Flows  round  our  restless  fragmentary  life, 
Submerging  all  its  sense  of  pain  and  strife. 

The  heart  swells  full  with  pure  divine  content. 

And  thus  life  in  the  open  helps  to  cleanse  the  blood 
and  sweep  cobwebs  out  of  the  brain  and  pessimism  out 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  PREACHING  333 

of  the  heart  and  to  ripen  and  enrich  the  sermon  for 
Sabbath  morning. 

II.    The  Study  of  Literature 

Passing  from  nature  to  human  nature,  a  second  field 
for  broader  culture  for  the  ministry  is  literature. 
Reference  is  especially  made  to  what  De  Quincey  calls 
the  "  literature  of  power,"  or  that  which  moves  the  emo- 
tions. It  includes  poetry,  fiction,  essays,  and  miscel- 
laneous writings,  "  belles-lettres,"  as  the  French  call 
them,  or  beautiful  writings.  A  book  on  any  subject, 
however,  such  as  history  or  science,  which  is  pervaded 
with  imagination  and  has  distinction  of  style,  may  rise 
to  the  level  of  literature.  It  is  a  good  plan  for  a  min- 
ister to  select  one  author  at  a  time  for  his  study  and 
read  his  works  through,  and  thus  he  will  gain  his  point 
of  view,  grasp  his  line  of  thought,  and  absorb  and  as- 
similate his  ideas  into  his  own  blood.  What  are  some 
of  the  fruits  of  such  study? 

I.  Discipline  in  Thought. — First,  discipline  in 
thought,  especially  in  the  knowledge  of  human  nature 
and  life.  If  the  minister  is  ignorant  of  the  human 
w^orld  in  which  he  lives  and  which  he  is  endeavouring  to 
move  and  mould,  if  he  lives  in  an  isolated  cell  of  his 
own,  he  will  fail  to  connect  with  his  work  and  be  a 
nnjnkish  misfit  in  the  world  of  men  and  be  imi)otent  to 
do  them  good.  Of  course  he  should  immerse  and  soak 
his  soul  in  the  actual  world  and  studv  human  nature 
at  first  hand.  P>ut  the  studv  of  literature  will  l)e  a 
fruitful  discipline  at  this  point.  Great  literary  writ- 
ers are,  first,  great  thinkers.  No  mere  (►rnaiiicntalion 
of  style,  no  feathery  plumes  on  the  arrows  of  their 
words,  would  send  lln'm  singiug  through  the  world  if 
they    did    nut    [)Ul    Ijchind    them    big   explosive    ideas. 


334      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

Their  style  does  not  make  their  thoughts,  but  their 
thoughts  make  their  style.  To  learn  to  write  and  speak 
we  must  first  learn  to  think.  Too  many  people,  in- 
cluding some  ministers,  are  trying  to  say  something 
without  first  getting  something  to  say.  The  great 
poets,  novelists,  essayists,  are  men  of  profound  insight 
into  human  nature  and  life.  They  have  steeped  and 
saturated  themselves  in  the  world.  They  know  what  is 
in  man.  They  have  anatomized  the  human  soul.  There 
is  hardly  a  question  of  importance  that  does  not  have 
light  thrown  upon  it  in  the  pages  of  such  writers  as 
Emerson  and  Carlyle  and  Ruskin.  Even  when  they  are 
wrong  they  are  half  right,  and  whether  right  or  wrong 
they  are  always  immensely  suggestive.  The  study  of 
such  authors  shows  us  how  great  minds  think  and  tends 
to  beget  the  same  power  in  us.  It  lets  us  see  the  world 
through  their  eyes  and  gives  us  a  deeper  and  richer  in- 
sight into  it. 

2.  Discipline  in  Feeling  and  Imagination. — A  second 
result  of  the  study  of  literature  is  a  fruitful  discipline 
in  feeling  and  imagination.  The  preacher  is  after  the 
feelings  of  his  hearers,  for  these  are  the  motors  that 
move  the  will.  Literature  is  preeminently  thought 
shot  through  with  emotion.  The  great  literary  writers 
have  not  only  thought  deeply  but  have  also  felt  in- 
tensely. Their  souls  have  glowed  and  flamed  with  emo- 
tion, and  at  times  their  pages  burst  into  volcanic  fire. 
Reading  literature  charged  with  pure  deep  emotion  is 
the  best  education  for  the  feelings.  It  develops  them 
in  strength  and  sensitiveness  and  trains  them  in  that 
delicacy  and  refinement  that  we  call  taste.  The  mas- 
ters of  literature  are  also  men  of  powerful  imagina- 
tion. They  see  visions  of  beauty  and  unveil  the  splen- 
dour of  the  world,  often  hidden  from  us,  before  our 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  PREACHING  335 

eyes.  Shakespeare  sets  the  whole  world  in  the  light 
of  his  imagination  and  we  l)ehold  wondrous  things. 
Victor  Hugo  can  make  us  see  the  lock  on  a  prison  door 
so  that  we  shudder  at  it,  or  describe  the  awful  havoc 
created  by  a  cannon  torn  loose  from  its  moorings  on 
the  deck  of  a  warship  so  that  we  instinctively  feel  like 
escaping  from  the  monster  as  it  pauses  and  "  medi- 
tates "  for  the  next  spring  upon  its  victims.  We  have 
seen  the  power  of  the  imagination  in  the  hand  of  the 
preacher,  and  we  can  acquire  this  gift  in  some  degree 
from  those  who  have  it  in  princely  measure.  By  read- 
ing great  literary  authors  we  can  catch  some  of  this 
luminous  power.  Shakespeare  and  Victor  Hugo  will 
receive  us  as  scholars,  and  while  they  never  can  endow 
us  with  their  genius,  yet  if  we  study  them  patiently  and 
sympathetically  they  may  give  us  at  least  a  hint  of  their 
secret. 

3.  Discipline  in  Style. — A  third  result  of  the  study 
of  literature  is  discipline  in  style.  Style  is  not  thought, 
but  it  is  the  dress  that  makes  it  attractive  or  the  power 
that  drives  it  home.  Knowledge  is  steel  in  the  bar: 
forceful  expression  is  the  same  steel  in  a  keen  polished 
blade.  Knowledge  is  electricity  diffused  in  the  cloud: 
vivid  expression  is  the  bright  swift  flash.  Knowledge  is 
the  bullet:  style  is  the  powder  that  sends  it  to  its 
mark.  Wonderful  is  the  power  of  a  striking  sentence; 
phrases  have  made  history.  When  Napoleon  said  to  his 
soldiers,  "  There  are  no  Alps,''  he  thereby  in  effect 
levelled  those  icy  heights  and  carried  his  soldiers  over 
them.  When  Lincoln  said,  ''  This  nation  cannot  endure 
half  slave  and  half  free,"  he  piil  a  charge  of  powder 
under  the  institution  of  slavery  that  blew  it  to  pieces. 
Daniel  Webster's  simple  statement  nf  a  case  was  said 
to  be  its  strongest  arguiiienl.    The  masters  of  literature 


336       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

are  masters  of  style.  Their  pens  drop  jewels  "  that  on 
the  stretched  forefinger  of  all  time  sparkle  forever." 
They  dip  their  brushes  in  all  the  colours  of  the  rain- 
bow and  paint  pictures.  They  say  things  so  that  we  can 
see  them,  and  they  suggest  more  than  they  say.  They 
compress  great  thoughts  into  single  sentences  and 
think  in  thunderbolts. 

One  secret  of  their  power  that  we  may  learn  from 
them  is  the  compression  of  thought  into  the  fewest 
words  possible.    The  force  of  an  idea  is  often  inversely 
to  the  number  of  words  that  express  it.    Multiply  the 
words  and  the  idea  grows  thin  and  loses  force;  con- 
dense the  words  and  the  idea  gathers  energy.    One  of 
the  commonest  faults  of  writers  and  speakers  is  their 
verbosity.     One   could  go  through   their  speeches  or 
sermons  and  by  striking  out  words  and  compressing 
paragraphs  double  the  strength  and  sharpen  the  points 
of  their  ideas.    Young  writers  and  ministers  especially 
should  be  merciless  with  the  pen  in  correcting  their 
productions.     Slaughter  the  adjectives.     Count  every 
word  struck  out  so  much  thought  gained.     Instead  of 
big  words  with  little  ideas  rattling  around  in  them, 
use  short  words  and  let  the  thought  lap  over  at  the 
ends.    Take   the   short-cut   to   your   meaning.    Avoid 
tedious  explanations  and  come  to  the  point.    Leave  the 
long    complicated    sentences    to    the    Germans.     De 
Quincey  says  that  a  German  would  realize  his  ideal  if 
he  could  write  a  book  in  one  eternal  sentence,  and 
Mark  Twain  says  that  a  German  newspaper  often  goes 
to  press  before  it  reaches  the  verb.    The  long  sentence 
is  apt  to  grow  obscure  and  break  down  of  its  own 
weight.    A  short  sentence  goes  to  the  mark  like  a  minnie 
ball.    Proverbs  and  aphorisms,  the  slowly  crystallized 
diamonds  of  speech,  are  brief.    The  famous  sayings  of 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  PREACHING  337 

men,  the  happy  hits  of  the  orator,  the  telling  sentences 
of  an  article  or  sermon,  are  short  and  sharp.  Old 
Cotton  Mather  could  be  terribly  prolix  himself,  but  he 
left  one  bit  of  advice  that  should  keep  others  from 
Imitating  him :  "  Be  short." 

The  great  literary  writers  are  constantly  showing  us 
that  the  simple  truth  told  in  the  most  direct  words, 
adorned  only  with  choice  diction,  is  the  most  effective 
as  well  as  the  most  beautiful  style.  John  Stuart  Mill, 
that  master  of  simple,  forceful  English,  once  wrote  the 
sentence,  '*'  This  is  a  very  strong  statement,"  and  then 
struck  his  pen  through  the  word  "  very."  A  friend, 
seeing  the  manuscript,  asked  why  he  had  done  this. 
"  Because,"  said  Mr.  Mill,  ^'  I  wanted  to  make  that 
statement  as  strong  as  I  could."  To  his  mind  the 
sentence,  "  This  is  a  strong  statement,"  was  a  stronger 
statement  than  the  sentence,  "  This  is  a  very  strong 
statement,"  and  he  was  right. 

In  studying  literature  we  fall  under  the  influence  of 
these  great  writers  and  acquire  their  modes  of  thought 
and  expression.  Such  reading  makes  us  acquainted 
with  our  faults  and  sets  before  us  high  ideals.  It 
begets  in  us  the  literary  sense  so  that  we  instinctively 
feel  when  a  sentence  has  the  right  swing  to  it  or  ends 
effectively.  It  enlarges  our  vocabulary  and  enriches  it 
with  graphic  phrases  and  figures  of  sjiecch.  And  it  is 
not  by  mere  imitation  that  we  ac(piire  from  good 
writers  elements  of  their  style,  but  by  a  process  of 
assimilation,  or  induction  as  an  electrical  current  is 
generated  in  one  coil  by  a  current  in  a  parallel  coil. 
Style  is  catching.  If  we  will  jxTsistcntly  ivnd  these 
masters  and  steep  our  minds  in  their  modes  and  moods 
of  expression  we  shall  absorb  some  of  their  spirit  and 

art 


338      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

III.    The  Study  of  Philosophy 

A  brief  section  is  here  introduced  on  the  value  of  a 
special  line  of  general  study,  and  philosophy  is  chosen 
as  an  example,  though  some  other  field  of  thought 
could  be  made  to  serve  the  same  purpose.  There  is 
danger  that  the  minister  may  fall  into  the  habit  of 
browsing  around  in  the  fields  of  lighter  literature  as  a 
mere  indulgence  and  luxury  and  thus  weaken  the  stern 
habit  of  solid  study.  Philosophy  cannot  be  charged 
with  being  a  thin  and  weakening  intellectual  gruel,  for 
it  is  understood  to  be  the  profoundest  and  most  strenu- 
ous field  of  thought.  It  is  true  that  it  suggests  to  some 
minds  only  a  maze  of  words  '^  weaving  their  eternal 
dance  before  us,"  as  Matthew  Arnold  thought,  or  a 
world  of  mist  and  mud.  Yet  philosophy,  so  far  from 
being  confusion  worse  confounded,  is,  in  Prof.  James's 
well-known  words,  "  an  unusually  obstinate  attempt  to 
think  clearly  and  consistently,"  and  in  the  words  of 
Prof.  Charles  E.  Carman,  '^  Philosophy  is  simply  in- 
telligence at  its  best."  The  minister  obviously  wants  to 
think  clearly  and  consistently  and  to  have  intelligence 
at  its  best. 

Philosophy  is  an  attempt  to  reach  the  ultimate  prin- 
ciple of  things,  the  one  underlying  reality  out  of  w^hich 
all  the  forms  of  the  universe  arise,  the  single  taproot 
that  bears  all  the  buds  and  blooms  of  the  world.  One 
branch  of  philosophy  finds  the  ultimate  reality  of  the 
world  unknowable  and  ends  in  agnosticism,  another 
finds  it  in  matter  and  ends  in  materialism,  and  another 
finds  it  in  spirit  and  ends  in  some  form  of  ideal- 
ism, and  idealism  divides  into  impersonal  pantheism 
and  theism.  Our  philosophy  is  thus  our  unified  and 
total  view  of  the  world,  what  we  think  of  it  as  a  whole 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  PREACHING  339 

in  its  nature,  order,  and  purpose.  Every  thinking  man 
has  some  such  notion  of  the  world,  however  dim  and 
confused  or  wild  and  irrational  it  may  be,  and  thus 
every  one  is  a  philosopher  whether  he  knows  it  or  not, 
and  we  can  no  more  escape  from  thinking  in  terms  of 
philosophy  than  we  can  escape  speaking  prosef.  The 
only  question,  then,  is  not  whether  we  shall  be  philoso- 
phers or  not,  but  whether  we  shall  be  good  ones  or 
bad  ones.  The  minister  must  be  a  philosopher,  and 
it  remains  for  him  to  decide  which  kind  he  will  be. 

It  is  not  meant  to  affirm  or  suggest  that  every  min- 
ister should  or  could  become  a  philosopher,  for  some- 
thing depends  on  personal  aptitude  and  circumstances; 
but  it  is  meant  that  as  a  general  study  philosophy  is 
specially  suitable  and  profitable  to  a  minister,  and  a 
few  reasons  for  this  view  will  be  briefly  stated. 

I.  Mental  Discipline. — The  preacher  should  study 
philosophy,  first,  as  a  mental  discipline.  Such  disci- 
pline is  one  of  his  constant  needs,  as  intellectual  lazi- 
ness with  its  resulting  stagnation  is  one  of  his  dangers. 
His  preaching  then  wears  down  into  a  rut  in  which 
every  sermon  jogs  along  in  the  same  old  way.  His 
people  know  just  what  he  is  going  to  say  on  any  text 
because  he  has  said  it  all  before,  and  so  they  are  tired 
before  he  begins.  Like  the  anti«iuated  doctor  who  has 
long  been  left  behind  by  the  wonderful  progress  of  his 
science  and  simply  keeps  handing  out  the  same  old 
quinine  and  calomel  pills,  this  out-of-date  preacher 
keeps  preaching  technical  doctrines  in  the  same  forms 
and  phrases  in  which  our  fathers  preached  them  and 
never  makes  tluMu  sj>eak  in  new  accents.  It  is  this 
fatal  mental  stagnation  that  more  than  anything  else 
carries  preachers  over  the  dead  line  befui*e  their  lieads 
are  grey. 


340      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

The  cure  for  this  microbe  of  mental  "  sleeping  sick- 
ness" is  solid,  systematic  study,  especially  of  great 
subjects  that  discipline  the  minister's  mind  and  enlarge 
his  world.  Of  course  his  main  studies  are  the  Bible 
and  theology  and  all  the  subjects  that  directly  relate 
to  his  work.  But  out  in  the  field  of  broader  culture 
philosophy  takes  a  high  place.  It  is  admittedly  one 
of  the  greatest,  if  not  the  greatest  subject  in  the  world. 
Its  master  students  and  exponents  have  ever  been  the 
profoundest  thinkers  of  the  ages  and  have  written  their 
names  high  on  the  scroll  of  fame.  Their  masterpieces, 
from  Plato's  Republic  and  Kant's  Critique  to  more 
modern  works,  though  they  may  be  read  only  within  a 
narrow  and  select  circle,  are  yet  among  the  most  en- 
during monuments  of  literature  and  are  milestones  in 
the  march  of  human  thought.  However  abstract  and 
remote  they  may  seem  in  their  ideas  and  expression, 
yet  they  have  passed  into  the  intellectual  blood  of  the 
world.  To  study  these  books,  or  a  few  or  one  of  them, 
so  as  to  master  it  will  expand  the  brain  and  clear  the 
vision  of  any  man,  but  especially  the  minister.  It  will 
put  iron  into  his  blood  and  strengthen  him  for  all  his 
studies  and  all  his  work. 

2.  The  Use  of  Philosophy  in  Preaching. — The 
preacher  should  study  philosophy,  second,  for  its  use 
in  preaching.  It  is  not  meant,  of  course,  that  he  should 
take  technical  philosophy  into  his  pulpit  and  preach  its 
speculations.  This  would  be  an  amazing  thing  to  do 
and  would  only  confuse  and  bewilder  the  people.  The 
business  of  the  pulpit  is  to  proclaim  the  gospel,  and  it 
should  not  preach  anything  that  does  not  contribute  to 
this  end.  Nevertheless,  there  is  great  use  in  the  pulpit 
for  the  philosophic  spirit  and  for  philosophic  methods 
and  aims.    The  object  of  philosophy,  as  we  have  seen, 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  PREACHING  341 

is  to  see  the  world  as  a  whole;  and  hence  the  philoso- 
pher is  ever  seeing  the  whole  in  each  part  and  each 
part  in  its  relation  to  the  whole. 

Now  this  bears  on  preaching  in  two  ways.  First,  in 
the  matter  of  illustrations.  The  whole  art  of  seeing 
illustrations  consists  in  an  exercise  of  the  philosophic 
mind.  The  philosopher  sees  the  whole  universe  in  every 
part  and  particle  of  it,  the  sun  in  the  dewdrop  and 
the  heavens  in  the  atom;  and  so  the  philosophical 
preacher  sees  the  general  principle  he  is  presenting  in 
every  common  thing  and  daily  experience,  and  thus 
makes  the  earth  and  air  and  sea  and  the  lives  of  the 
people  illustrate  and  preach  the  gospel  to  them,  as 
Jesus  did.  He  takes  the  principle  of  sacrifice,  for  ex- 
ample, and  traces  its  scarlet  thread,  dipped  in  sacri- 
ficial blood,  through  the  entire  web  of  the  universe,  as  a 
red  strand  is  woven  into  every  rope  in  the  British  navy. 
The  study  of  philosophy  is  a  constant  exercise  of  this 
insight,  and  more  than  anything  else  it  will  enable  the 
preacher  to  see  how  any  general  principle  manifests 
itself  in  myriad  forms,  and  thus  he  will  see  the  whole 
world  aglitter  with  illustrations  of  any  subject.  The 
poet  sees  the  same  thing,  but  the  poet  and  the  philoso- 
pher are  deeply  akin. 

A  still  deeper  use  of  the  philosophical  mind  in  preach- 
ing is  in  bringing  every  truth  into  rclatiini  with  the 
whole  world  and  with  (Jod.  The  philosopher  sees  that 
every  at(jiii  of  the  universe  is  connected  up  with  every 
other,  so  that  to  understand  one  atom  in  all  its  rela- 
tions we  would  need  to  understand  the  imiverse.  This 
is  what  Tennyson  means  when  he  says  that  if  we  could 
understand  a  llowei'  in  its  ci-annied  wall  we  *'  would 
know  what  (Jod  an<l  man  is.''  The  aj>j>li(ation  of  this 
philosophical  principle  to  preaching  is  plain:  all  the 


342       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

truths  and  duties  we  present  should  be  set  in  a  divine 
light  in  their  relation  to  the  world  and  to  God.  One 
of  the  dangers  of  preaching  is  that  it  will  deal  with 
small  subjects  in  a  small  way.  Some  sermons  have 
trifling  themes  that  yield  no  larger  results  than  petty 
rules  and  platitudinous  moral  advice.  Every  sermon 
ought  to  have  a  broad  base,  deep  as  eternity,  and  a 
summit  that  lifts  its  hearers  into  the  celestial  blue. 
This  does  not  mean  that  every  sermon  should  be  a  great 
effort  with  an  ambitious  theme.  Such  efforts  are  likely 
to  fall  flat.  There  must  be  many  sermons  on  common 
subjects  that  keep  close  to  the  ground  of  daily  experi- 
ence. Nevertheless,  the  philosophic  preacher  will  con- 
nect every  subject,  however  ordinary  and  lowly,  with 
its  cosmic  and  divine  relations  so  that  it  will  be  seen 
to  be  a  thread  running  through  the  whole  fabric  of 
the  universe  and  a  strand  running  up  to  God.  This 
principle  will  lift  everything  out  of  triviality  into  eter- 
nal significance.  It  will  make  the  smallest  things  great, 
and  every  common  duty  shine  with  celestial  light. 
Every  preacher  does  this  in  some  degree,  but  the 
philosophic  mind  of  insight  greatly  increases  this 
power. 

3.  The  Foundation  of  Theology. — A  third  reason 
why  the  minister  should  study  philosophy  goes  still 
deeper  into  this  subject  and  can  only  be  indicated  in 
this  connection.  Philosophy  is  more  fundamental  than 
theology  and  furnishes  its  foundation  and  framework. 
Every  theologian  is  first  a  philosopher,  and  every  prob- 
lem of  theology  has  its  roots  down  in  philosophy.  A 
minister's  philosophy,  then,  will  have  architectonic  in- 
fluence in  shaping  and  colouring  his  theology;  his 
philosophical  skeleton  cannot  be  concealed,  but  will 
inevitably  show  through  his  theological  flesh.     If  he 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  PREACHING  343 

does  not  have  any  definite  philosophy  or  does  not  know 
what  his  philosophy  is,  so  much  the  worse  will  it  be  for 
his  theology :  it  will  be  infected  by  the  unsound  or  con- 
fused philosophy  that  necessarily  lies  latent  in  his 
mind.  Hence  the  great  importance  to  a  minister  that 
he  get  hold  of  a  consistent  and  solid  philosophical  sys- 
tem that  will  be  a  sure  foundation  and  framework  for 
his  theology. 

4.    An  Objection  Answered. — The  objection  may  be 
raised  at  this  point  that  philosophy  is  a  confused  and 
cold  abstract  theory  that  will  not  warm  the  pulpit  but 
will  rather  tend  to  chill  it  and  may  even  send  its  tem- 
perature below  the  freezing  point.    Many  preachers,  it 
may  be  said,  even  the  best  ones,  pay  little  or  no  atten- 
tion  to  technical  philosophy.    The  really  great  preach-  | 
pers,  such  as  Spurgeon  and  Beecher  and  Phillips  Brooks, 
1  are    great    poets    rather    than    philosophers,    men    of 
\  imagination  and  emotion  with  pictorial  and  persuasive 
1  power  rather  than  of  logical  and  metaphysical  analysis 
Land  argument.    What  the  preacher  needs,  then,  is  nof^' 
more  philosophy  but  more  imagination,  emotion  and 
spiritual     earnestness     and     zeal.     A     philosophical 
preacher,  it  may  be  said,  would  be  the  last  kind  of  a 
preacher  a  congregation  would  be  willing  to  call  and 
the  first  they  would  run  away  from. 

The  general  answer  to  this  objection  is  that  the 
philosopher  and  the  poet  are  not  antagonistic  but 
closelv  akin.  Thev  have  the  same  fundamental  tvpe  of 
mind,  that  of  insight  into  tlie  central  nature  an<l 
totality  of  things,  so  that  they  see  the  whole  in  each 
part  and  each  part  in  the  light  of  the  whole.  It  is  this 
power  that  gives  tlic  poet  his  visi(m  and  his  fertility 
in  illnst  rat  ions,  so  that  in  the  llower  in  a  crannied  wall 
he  sees  the  whole  system  and  secret  of  God  and  man, 


344       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

and  in  the  meanest  flower  that  blows  he  discerns 
thoughts  that  are  too  deep  for  tears.  It  is  precisely 
this  power  that  makes  the  great  preacher,  and  the  great 
preachers  always  are  genuine  philosophers,  though  they 
may  be  untrained  and  unconscious  ones.  And  philos- 
ophy is  not  antagonistic  to  emotion  that  springs  from 
clear  and  consistent  thought,  though  it  is  unfriendly  to 
and  will  smother  emotion  of  the  fanatical  and  ranting 
kind.  The  proper  effect  of  thought  is  to  kindle  emo- 
tion and  not  kill  it.  One  reason  why  the  poet  feels  so 
intensely  is  that  he  sees  so  deeply,  and  the  philosopher 
can  feel  intense  and  rich  emotion  for  the  same  reason. 
The  picturesque  power  and  overflowing  emotionalism 
of  great  preachers  are  not  dried  up  but  are  deepened 
and  fed  by  their  philosophical  insight. 

The  preacher,  then,  need  not  fear  that  his  study  of 
philosophy  will  chill  his  heart  and  clip  his  emotional 
wings:  rather  it  will  kindle  his  heart  with  greater 
warmth  drawn  from  the  central  fires  of  the  world  and 
give  him  more  powerful  pinions.  When  he  sees  with 
philosophical  insight  he  will  know  that  the  universe  is 
back  of  the  truth  he  is  presenting,  that  the  stars  in 
their  courses  are  fighting  for  it,  and  he  will  feel  that  if 
God  be  thus  for  it,  who  can  be  against  it?  Philosophy 
is  not  a  chilling  abstraction,  but  is  full  of  kindling 
thought  and  emotional  power.  It  will  not  make  a  thin 
cold  preacher,  but  will  tend  to  broaden  his  brain  and 
fire  his  heart  and  make  him  a  flaming  apostle.  It  will 
help  him  to  speak  with  such  vital  conviction  and  ear- 
nestness as  will  tend  to  convince  and  move  others. 

There  are  many  other  means  for  the  broader  culture 
of  the  minister,  and  the  ones  considered  are  only  illus- 
trative. One  of  the  most  vital  of  these  is  the  minister's 
own  spiritual  life,  his  private  devotion  and  meditation. 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  PREACHING  315 

The  thin  soil  of  a  superficial  careless  devotional  life 
cannot  afford  much  depth  of  earth  to  sermons,  and  they 
will  be  weak  with  the  poverty  of  the  inner  life  out  of 
which  they  grow.  The  minister  must  first  know  Christ 
before  he  can  preach  him,  and  he  should  dwell  much 
with  him  in  secret,  and  then  he  may  come  forth  from 
his  presence  with  a  glowing  heart  and  transfigured 
face  to  speak  that  he  does  know  and  testify  that  he  has 
seen. 

The  minister,  then,  is  not  wasting  his  time  in  follow- 
ing extraneous  pursuits  in  studying  nature  and  litera- 
ture and  philosophy  and  other  means  of  general  cul- 
ture. While  such  avocations  mav  not  vield  immediate 
materials  for  the  next  sermon,  they  are  yet  constantly 
dropping  seeds  and  fructifying  influences  into  the  min- 
ister's mind  and  heart  and  thus  enriching  and  mellow- 
ing them  as  fertile  soil  out  of  which  good  sermons  will 
surely  grow.  This  broader  culture  is  the  well-stocked 
storehouse  out  of  which  the  minister  can  draw  illus- 
trative material  for  his  sermons  or  out  of  which  will 
swarm  throngs  of  associations  to  give  them  fulness  and 
richness.  The  lack  of  this  general  culture  makes  many 
a  preacher  a  narrow  and  illil^eral  man,  who  is  not 
only  unacquainted  with,  but  suspicious  of,  if  not  hostile 
towards  fields  of  truth  beyond  his  range,  and  this  not 
only  makes  his  sermons  ill-informed  and  ])oor,  but  shuts 
him  out  of  the  symjiathy  of  the  broader  minds  in  his 
congregation  and  may  expose  him  to  their  criticism 
and  sometimes  to  their  pity  and  contempt.  All  human 
knowledge  and  culture  lead  to  religion,  as  all  roads  ran 
to  Rome,  and  the  minister  who  is  widely  travelled  on 
the  great  highways  of  the  worhl  will  ((jme  to  every  ser- 
mon and  service  with  rich  treasures  of  thought  and 
feeling,   as   bees   return   to   their  hive  burdened   with 


346       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

golden  sweets  from  many  jQelds,  and  this  will  greatly 
increase  his  resourcefulness  and  power. 

IV.    The  Power  of  Personality 

All  the  points  in  the  psychology  of  preaching  hitherto 
considered,  the  construction  and  delivery  of  the  sermon 
and  the  broader  culture  that  underlies  it,  taken  to- 
gether do  not  fully  account  for  a  preacher's  power.  He 
may  have  all  these  qualities  in  a  considerable  degree, 
and  yet  not  be  an  efficient  preacher.  In  fact  one  may 
be  finished  almost  to  perfection  in  these  points  and  yet 
lack  the  vital  element  of  power,  being  "  faultily  fault- 
less, icily  regular,  splendidly  null."  One  sometimes 
hears  a  preacher  who  is  so  precise  and  finished  and 
finical  that  one  almost  wishes  he  would  violate  some 
rule  of  propriety  so  as  to  show  the  genuine  wood  be- 
neath all  his  veneer  and  varnish  and  polish.  It  would 
be  a  relief  to  have  him  drop  his  fine  rhetoric  and  simply 
blurt  out  something  that  would  strike  and  stick.  On 
the  other  hand,  a  preacher  may  be  deficient  at  many  of 
these  points  and  seem  to  violate  most  of  the  rules  and 
to  be  a  law  unto  himself,  and  yet  may  move  multitudes 
and  draw  many  into  the  kingdom.  Wherein  lies  this 
great  difference  and  secret  in  preaching? 

I.  Personality  the  Master  Force  of  Life. — It  lies  in 
the  personality  of  the  preacher.  Personality  is  the 
master  force  of  human  life.  It  is  this  that  makes  the 
great  statesman,  general,  orator,  preacher,  artist,  or 
leader  in  any  field  of  action.  It  was  by  the  force  of 
personality  that  Demosthenes  swayed  iVthens,  Caesar 
mastered  Rome,  Paul  drove  the  wedge  of  the  gospel 
into  Europe,  Luther  created  the  Reformation,  and  Na- 
poleon dominated  all  the  kings  of  his  day.  It  was  the 
personality  of  Columbus  that,  amidst  the  cowardly 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  PREACHING    347 

fears  and  appeals  and  threats  of  his  sailors  as  they 
cried  out  against  the  terrors  of  the  unknown  sea,  held 
the  prow  of  his  vessel  ever  westward,  every  morning 
keeping  it  in  the  track  of  the  sun  and  every  evening 
driving  it  deeper  into  the  night.  It  is  personality  that 
makes  great  discoveries,  writes  great  books,  paints  great 
pictures,  achieves  great  triumphs  and  heroisms,  and 
writes  names  high  up  on  the  roll  of  fame.  Almost  every 
great  human  achievement  is  the  lengthened  shadow  of 
some  great  personality.  Personalities  are  the  mountain 
peaks  of  history  that  mark  the  culminating  points  in 
the  range  of  events  and  lift  the  level  of  their  region. 
A  man  of  small  personality,  then,  cannot  preach  a  great 
sermon,  and  a  man  of  great  personality,  though  he  may 
preach  a  small  sermon,  will  yet  put  behind  it  such 
driving  power  that  it  will  seem  great  and  will  have  a 
great  effect. 

2.  What  is  Personality? — What,  then,  is  personal- 
ity? Like  many  other  great  and  vital  things  it  cannot 
be  shut  up  within  the  verbal  boundaries  of  a  definition ; 
it  is  atmospheric  and  elusive,  it  cannot  be  accurately 
analyzed  and  enumerated  and  weighed  in  all  its  ele- 
ments. It  is  highly  complex  and  subtle,  it  is  largely 
spirit,  it  is  something  plus  over  and  above  the  analyz- 
able  elements  of  a  man.  Often  we  cannot  tell  what 
the  secret  of  a  powerful  personality  is,  and  perhaps  the 
man  himself  does  not  know. 

Personalitv  consists  of  the  native  endowment  of  a 
man  developed  into  discipline  and  power.  The  native 
endowment  is  by  far  Ihe  larger  part  of  it,  and  to  this 
nothing  can  be  added  by  education  and  effort.  Heredity 
does  more  for  us  than  we  ever  can  do  for  ourselves.  As 
Heven-oigliths  of  an  icelKM-g  is  submerged  under  the  sea, 
so  seven-eighths  of  a  niun's  personality  is  immersed  in 


348       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

the  blood  of  his  heredity.  The  bulk  of  his  body,  the 
breadth  of  his  brain,  the  volume  of  his  blood,  his  stock 
of  vitality,  his  brawn  and  breath,  and  the  power  of  his 
mind,  the  warmth  of  his  emotions,  the  strength  of  his 
will,  and  all  the  subtle  elements  that  shape  and  colour 
his  individuality  and  give  it  distinction,  these  basic 
constituents  of  his  personality  are  selected  and  mixed 
and  tempered  for  him  in  his  birth  and  have  roots  run- 
ning back  through  countless  generations. 

Genius  is  born,  not  made ;  and  so  is  personality.  In 
this  respect  we  start  out  with  so  much  inherited  capi- 
tal which  we  cannot  increase.  We  are  given  the 
potency  of  a  certain  type  and  degree  of  personality,  and 
by  no  possibility  can  we  add  one  cubit  to  our  stature 
or  make  one  hair  white  or  black.  No  amount  of  edu- 
cation or  effort  can  make  a  Shakespeare  or  Milton  out 
of  a  common  mortal,  or  a  Henry  Ward  Beecher  or  a 
Phillips  Brooks  out  of  an  ordinary  preacher,  any  more 
than  lead  can  be  transmuted  into  gold  or  a  pebble  into 
a  diamond.  At  this  point  we  must  accept  our  fate  and 
stay  within  the  mould  in  which  heredity  has  cast  us. 

This  fact,  however,  is  by  no  means  discouraging,  for 
native  endowment  must  be  developed  and  disciplined 
into  its  fullest  proportions  and  powers,  and  here  is  a 
large  field  in  which  our  own  sovereignty  must  create 
ourselves.  This  is  the  meaning  and  aim  and  effort  of 
all  our  education  from  infancy,  and  the  process  is  not 
finished  and  does  not  cease  with  our  school  and  college 
days  but  runs  on  through  all  life.  The  building  up  of 
our  personality  must  be  carried  on  within  the  limits  of 
our  native  endowment,  but  these  limits  leave  us  plenty 
to  do.  The  tallest  redwood  that  now  bathes  its  sum- 
mit in  the  sun  three  hundred  feet  above  the  ground 
might  have  remained  as  a  germ  in  its  seed,  and  the 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  PREACHING  349 

greatest  genius  that  ever  lived  might  have  remained 
undeveloped  and  died  unknown  as  only  a  bundle  of 
splendid  possibilities.  Few  persons  have  developed 
themselves  up  to  their  limits,  and  there  remain  in  us 
resources  that  have  not  yet  been  touched,  deeps  we  have 
not  yet  tapped.  The  preacher,  then,  is  not  to  bewail 
his  personality  as  though  he  were  given  a  hopelessly 
poor  tool  with  which  to  do  his  work,  but  he  is  to  take 
stock  of  himself  and  develop  his  resources  and  work 
his  personality  up  to  its  highest  point  of  discipline  and 
efliciencv. 

3.  Points  in  Efficient  Personality. — Taking  up,  now, 
in  detail  the  matter  of  developing  and  controlling  our 
personality  we  should  look  after  and  endeavour  to  in- 
tensify the  following  points: 

(a)  The  body  is  the  physical  basis  of  personality. 
The  vitality  and  vigour  of  the  body  enter  largely  into 
the  clearness  of  the  mind,  the  width  and  warmth  of  the 
sympathies,  the  flight  and  \ision  of  the  imagination, 
and  the  decision  and  force  of  the  will ;  and  in  the  min- 
ister they  have  much  to  do  with  the  construction  and 
delivery  and  power  of  his  sermon.  The  minister  there- 
fore should  develop  and  take  care  of  his  body  so  as  to 
keep  it  in  fine  fettle,  in  harmony  and  tune,  as  a  physio- 
logical and  psychological  factor  in  his  preaching. 

(b)  The  personality  of  the  preacher  should  l)e  uni- 
fied in  body,  mind  and  heart  so  that  all  his  powers  will 
be  compressed  into  one  channel  and  flow  in  one  force- 
ful current.  This  means  that  the  preacher  should  not 
be  divided  by  conflicting  conditicms.  thoughts,  and  pur- 
suits. If  he  is  preaching  one  thing  while  he  is  thinking 
about  or  troubled  over  another  thing,  his  attention  and 
whole  personality  will  l)e  divided.  If  he  has  mixed  up 
business  with  his  ministry,  he  is  in  great  danger  of 


350       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

diversion  from  his  calling.  "  This  one  thing  I  do,"  said 
Paul,  and  he  concentrated  all  the  powers  of  his  great 
personality  into  his  ministry,  and  this  made  it  one  of 
the  gulf  currents  of  history.  The  minister  should  strive 
to  free  himself  of  distractions,  to  lay  aside  every  weight 
that  besets  him,  and  to  focus  all  his  powers  and  pur- 
poses into  one  burning  beam  of  consecration. 

(c)  Unconsciousness  of  self  is  another  element  in 
power  of  personality.  Perfection  is  not  reached  in  any 
human  art  or  pursuit  until  it  has  passed  beyond  self- 
consciousness  and  is  lost  in  its  object. 

Love  took  up  the  harp  of  Life,  and  smote  on  all  the  chords  with 

might, 
Smote  the  chord  of  Self,  that,  trembling,  pass'  d  in  music  out  of 

sight, 

Until  the  self  is  thus  so  smitten  that  it  passes  into 
the  music  of  life,  its  self-consciousness  distracts  the 
unity  and  spoils  the  harmony  and  weakens  the  power  of 
the  soul.  The  preacher  is  specially  subject  to  this  law. 
If  while  preaching  Christ  Jesus  he  is  conscious  of  him- 
self, if  he  is  charmed  with  his  own  manner  and  mes- 
sage, if  he  is  posing  as  a  performer  or  actor  to  exhibit 
his  owTi  brilliance  and  wit,  if  he  is  seeking  to  attract 
attention  to  himself  and  elicit  the  praise  of  his  audi- 
ence, he  may  have  his  reward,  but  he  will  not  save 
souls.  "  No  man,'^  says  Dr.  James  Denny,  "  can  per- 
suade an  audience  at  the  same  time  that  he  himself  is 
clever  and  that  Jesus  Christ  is  mighty  to  save."  He 
may  do  the  one  thing  or  the  other,  but  not  both:  for 
the  two  things  are  psychologically  opposed  and  the  one 
will  exclude  the  other.  The  preacher  must,  with  Paul, 
determine  not  to  know  anything  among  his  people,  save 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  PREACHING    351 

Jesus  Christ,  and  him  crucified,  and  when  in  this 
obliteration  of  self  his  own  personality  passes  out  of 
sight  he  will  have  unified  powder.  "  Unite  my  heart  to 
fear  thv  name." 

(d)  Intensity  is  another  element  of  powder  of  per- 
sonality. Some  personalities  are  by  nature  and  habit 
dull  and  uninteresting;  they  are  alkaline  in  nature  and 
give  a  negative  reaction,  they  are  bromidic  and  sop- 
orific; others  are  bright  and  enlivening;  they  are  acid 
in  nature  and  give  a  positive  reaction,  they  are  effer- 
vescent and  contagious.  Much  of  this  difference  is 
temperamental,  but  it  is  not  wholly  beyond  our  con- 
trol. An  intense  and  lively  personality  depends  on 
deep  convictions  that  readily  flush  the  feelings  and 
infect  others.  The  preacher  needs  to  be  a  live  and  con- 
tagious personality  that  he  may  infect  and  stir  his  con- 
gregation; and  he  should  therefore  think  deeply  and 
earnestly  and  cherish  intense  convictions  that  kindle 
his  soul  into  glowing  heat,  and  then  his  personality, 
instead  of  being  dull  and  depressing,  will  be  vivid  and 
vital. 

(e)  Jhe,  deepest  power  in  the  personality  of  the 
preacher  is  the  Christlike  spirit.  His  aim  is  to  per- 
suade men  to  be  Christians,  but  he  cannot  give  what 
he  does  not  have;  if  his  own  si)irit  is  an  unlighted 
torch  he  cannot  touch  into  flame  other  souls.  A  worldlv 
preacher  cannot  make  Christlike  people.  All  other 
gifts  and  attainments,  body,  mind,  imagination,  bright- 
ness and  brilliancy,  rhetoric  and  eloquence,  cannot 
round  out  the  personality  of  the  preacher  and  give  him 
genuine  power  if  he  have  not  the  spirit  of  Christ.  He 
may  Ik?  popular  and  seem  powerful  for  a  while,  but  his 
day  will  l)e  short.  On  the  other  hand,  if  a  man  of  mod- 
erate abilities  and  entire  consecration  has  the  spirit  of 


352       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

Christ,  unified  and  sincere,  with  a  passion  for  saving 
souls,  he  may  not  be  a  great  but  he  will  be  a  highly 
eflScient  preacher.  Sinners  will  be  drawn  to  him  and 
the  people  will  love  him  and  flock  around  him  as  they 
thronged  around  Christ.  Only  goodness  can  create 
goodness,  and  many  a  preacher  by  the  simple  goodness 
of  his  heart  and  life  makes  his  people  good ;  and  in  the 
day  of  reward  his  crown  may  flash  out  with  stars  sur- 
passing in  glory  the  crown  of  a  more  popular  preacher. 
Bodily  vigour,  unity,  unconsciousness  of  self,  intensity 
and  Christlike  goodness  are  points  that  the  preacher 
can  cultivate  and  intensify  and  thereby  more  fully  de- 
velop his  personality  and  raise  it  to  its  highest  degree 
of  power. 

V.    The  Preacher  as  a  Prophet 

The  object  of  preaching  is  to  put  men  under  the  spell 
and  power  of  the  great  eternal  verities  and  sanctities 
of  the  Christian  life.  The  preacher  must  therefore  be 
a  seer  who  can  first  discern  these  verities  as  majestic 
visions  and  unevil.  their  glory  to  men  so  that  they 
will  charm  and  capture  them.  The  things  of  the  spirit 
loom  up  over  the  things  of  the  flesh,  but  the  great  world 
is  largely  blind  to  them,  and  "  where  there  is  no  vision, 
the  people  perish."  The  preacher  must  be  a  prophet 
who  can  first  see,  and  then  get  others  to  see,  the  visions 
of  life. 

'  Standing  on  the  summit  of  a  mountain  spur  in  Colo- 
rado the  author  once  saw  a  glorious  sight.  Off  to  the 
west  lay  the  main  range  of  the  Rocky  Mountains,  run- 
ning north  and  south  in  full  view  for  two  hundred 
miles.  The  planet  was  wrinkled  into  those  giant  billows 
of  rock  that  rose  above  the  sea  at  some  points  nearly 
three  miles  high.    Their  summits  and  sides  were  flecked 


PSYCHOLOGY  OF  PREACHING  353 

with  the  foam  of  unsullied  snow,  splendid  white  visions 
with  their  bases  buried  in  the  molten  heart  of  the  globe 
and  their  peaks  plunged  into  the  sun.  The  sight  gave 
one  a  sense  of  power  and  grandeur,  majesty  and  mys- 
tery that  almost  impelled  one  to  break  forth  in  a  shout. 
And  yet  the  question  arose  in  the  mind.  What  use  is 
that  mountain  range?  No  grain  of  wheat  or  blade  of 
grass  ever  grows  up  there  and  no  foot  ever  treads  those 
icy  heights.  Cubic  miles  of  rock  and  billions  of  tons 
of  snow  are  heaved  up  in  those  ridges:  why  all  this 
waste?  No  waste,  but  great  use  in  many  ways.  He 
who  built  all  things  knew  what  he  was  doing  in  push- 
ing up  those  summits  and  planting  them  on  their  im- 
movable foundations.  They  are  storehouses  of  life.  All 
summer  long  those  vast  snowdrifts  spin  themselves 
into  slender  rills,  which  dissolve  into  iridescent  mists 
and  weave  exquisite  bridal  veils  around  waterfalls  and 
gather  into  rushing  roaring  cataracts  and  rivers  and 
flow  out  over  the  plains  in  irrigating  streams.  Denver 
is  a  daughter  of  those  snows.  Vast  populations  suckle 
life  from  those  immaculate  breasts.  Those  snowy  sum- 
mits fling  far  and  wide  meadows  and  orchards,  towns 
and  cities,  turning  deserts  into  gardens  and  peopling 
them  with  teeming  populations.  Not  only  so,  but  those 
rocky  ribs  of  the  earth  play  a  great  part  in  the  life  of 
the  whole  continent,  determining  the  course  of  winds 
and  rivers,  reaching  up  with  their  giant  icy  hands  and 
squeezing  the  moisture  out  of  the  clouds  and  pouring 
it  upon  distant  plains  and  breathing  their  fresh  vitaliz- 
ing air  over  the  whole  land.  Level  those  barren 
heights  and  cities  would  perish  and  the  Mississippi 
VaUev  would  in  largo  jmrt  become  a  desert.  Every- 
thing in  nature  is  beautiful  in  its  time,  and  those  gi- 
gantic ridges,  that  we  may  have  thought  useless,  are 


354      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

the  shining  hills  of  God  whence  he  sends  down  streams 
of  life  upon  the  earth. 

The  spiritual  verities  and  eternities  of  the  world  are 
such  mountain  heights.  To  dim  worldly  vision  they 
may  seem  cold  and  barren,  yielding  no  fruit  or  profit 
and  tempting  only  visionary  eyes  and  foolish  feet.  But 
the  preacher  is  to  see  them  with  a  prophet's  eyes,  and 
to  him  they  are  to  loom  up  over  all  the  earth  as  majestic 
mountains  of  God,  the  mother  of  all  life  and  beauty  and 
blessedness,  the  fountain  of  streams  that  are  for  the 
healing  of  the  nations  and  the  satisfaction  of  the  deep- 
est thirst  of  the  human  soul.  He  is  to  see  them  so 
vividly  that  he  can  unveil  their  presence  and  precious- 
ness  and  powder  to  other  eyes,  and  bring  men  under 
their  spell  so  that  they  will  be  mastered  by  their  might 
and  drink  of  their  streams  and  live  on  their  life.  With 
such  a  vision  the  people  will  not  perish  but  will  live, 
and  the  whole  earth  will  grow  green  and  the  wilderness 
and  the  solitary  place  shall  be  glad,  and  the  desert 
shall  rejoice  and  blossom  as  the  rose.  This  is  the  high 
calling  of  the  minister,  no  other  surpasses  it  in  great- 
ness, and  all  things  else  he  should  count  as  loss  that 
this  one  thing  he  may  do. 


CHAPTER  IX 
THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  TEACHING 

THE  application  of  psychology  to  preaching  in 
the  preceding  chapters  applies  for  the  most  part 
to  teaching  with  little  more  than  a  change  in 
the  terms.  Preaching  and  religious  teaching  have  much 
in  common.  Both  seek  to  impart  truth  so  as  to  move 
the  will  and  mould  the  character  and  life.  They  there- 
fore make  use  of  the  same  fundamental  means  and 
dififer  only  in  subordinate  points.  "  The  relation  be- 
tween preaching  and  teaching  is  very  close,  and  it  is 
often  hard  to  distinguish  between  them  in  our  Lord's 
ministry.  The  preacher  addresses  a  larger  company  of 
people  than  the  teacher,  and  they  in  turn  listen  to  him 
silently,  without  asking  questions  or  takinp:  part  in  the 
discussion.  He  deals  with  general  principles  of  truth, 
as  a  rule,  without  discussing  the  processes  by  which 
they  have  been  developed,  or  the  facts  on  which  they 
are  based;  and  his  purpose  is  to  inspire  and  incite  to 
action  rather  than  to  instruct.  The  teacher,  on  the 
other  hand,  usually  speaks  to  a  small  number  of  peo- 
ple, who  ask  questions  and  take  part  in  the  discussion. 
He  deals  with  facts  and  processes  which  the  preacher 
leaves  out  or  takes  for  granted,  and  hia  purpose  is  to 
imbed  the  truth  in  the  mind  rather  than  to  inspire  and 
arouse.  Measured  by  this  standard,  there  were^  not 
many  occasions  in  our  Lord's  ministry  wlien  he  nlaved 
the  part  of  a  preacher.     There  are  a  few  outstanding 

356 


356       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

days,  like  that  one  in  Galilee  when  he  delivered  the  Ser- 
mon on  the  Mount,  when  he  preached  in  a  way  that  lifts 
and  thrills  us  to  this  day  when  we  read  it.  But  gen- 
erally he  is  among  the  people,  talking  to  them,  asking 
them  questions  and  playing  the  part  of  a  teacher. 
During  the  last  year  of  his  ministry  he  withdrew  him- 
self from  the  crowds,  as  a  rule,  that  he  might  be  with 
his  disciples  alone  to  teach  them."  ^ 

The  religious  teacher  thus  stands  close  to  the 
preacher  and  to  the  Master  himself  in  his  w^ork.  In 
this  closing  chapter,  which  has  principally  in  view  the 
work  of  a  Sunday  school  teacher,  it  will  not  be  neces- 
sary to  go  over  the  ground  that  has  already  been  cov- 
ered, and  the  subject  will  be  treated  only  from  some 
general  points  of  view. 

I.    Definite  Aims  in  Teaching 

In  The  Theory  and  Practice  of  Teaching,  by  Edward 
Thring,  one  of  the  leading  headmasters  and  foremost 
educators  of  England  in  his  day,  the  volume  being  one 
of  the  wisest,  wittiest,  and  most  suggestive  books  on 
teaching  that  can  be  found,  the  title  of  one  of  the  chap- 
ters, for  the  author  is  delightfully  unconventional  in 
style,  is  "  Run  the  Goose  Down."  "  Many  a  teacher,"  he 
says,  "  runs  about  mentally  just  as  if  he  was  trying  to 
catch  geese  on  a  common.  There  is  the  flock  assembled 
in  a  reasonably  compact  body.  He  makes  a  dash  into 
the  middle,  of  course  missing  his  victim ;  and  off  they 
go  in  all  directions,  he  after  them,  first  chasing  one, 
then  another,  till  the  flock  has  ceased  to  be  a  flock,  and 
he,  all  out  of  breath,  is  no  longer  in  reach  of  any  of 
them.    Run  one  goose  quietly  into  a  corner,  run  him 

^  Learning   to   Teach  from   the   Master   Teacher,   by  John   A. 
Marquis,  D.D.,  LL.D.,  President  of  Coe  College,  pp.  4-5. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  TEACHING      357 

down,  is  the  first  rule  in  catching  geese;  and  a  good 
rule,  too,  whether  in  classroom  or  on  common."  The 
author  then  proceeds  to  apply  this  rule  to  a  number  of 
points  in  teaching,  such  as  picking  out  faults  and  cor- 
recting them  one  at  a  time,  seizing  vital  points  in  the 
lesson  and  dealing  with  them  thoroughly,  and  so  on. 
The  simple  rule,  ''  Fix  on  your  goose,  and  run  him 
down,-'  he  says  is  of  marvellous  practical  power. 

The  art  of  education  is  advancing,  and  teaching  in 
the  Sunday  school  should  keep  pace  with  this  progress. 
In  truth,  this  teaching  should  not  only  compare  favour- 
ably with  that  in  the  day  school,  but  it  ought  in  some 
respects  to  be  better,  more  personal,  sympathetic,  and 
vital.  It  is  becoming  a  specialized  art  and  must  be 
studied  as  such.  Success  in  any  work  depends  on  plan 
and  purpose  and  concentration  of  effort;  on  knowing 
w^here  to  begin  and  how  to  go  through ;  what  points 
to  deal  with  thoroughly  and  what  [mints  to  pass  over 
lightly;  on  having  a  definite  program  in  mind  and 
sticking  to  it.  Seizing  a  piece  of  work  at  the  wrong 
end,  or  dashing  into  the  middle  of  it  and  trying  to  get 
hold  of  it  all  over  at  once,  rushing  at  the  whole  flock, 
only  results  in  distraction  and  confusion.  Success  de- 
pends upon  having  our  work  well  in  hand  and  keeping 
cool;  on  knowing  what  we  are  going  to  do  and  doing 
that  one  thing;  on  picking  out  our  goose  and  running 
it  down.  This  principle  ap[>lies  to  the  preparation  of 
the  lesson,  the  handling  of  the  lesson  before  the  class, 
its  np[)lication  to  life,  and  to  the  whole  course  of  the 
teacher's  work. 

IT.     TlTF    PUErAILVTION   OF  THE   LeSSON 

Teaching  demands  preparation  as  certainly  as 
preaching,  and  a  good  lesson  can  no  more  be  extern- 


858      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

porized  than  a  good  sermon.  The  idea  that  just  any- 
body can  teach  a  Sunday  school  class  is  as  unreason- 
able and  foolish  as  that  just  anybody  could  step  up  into 
the  pulpit  and  preach.  The  teacher's  preparation,  like 
the  preacher's,  is  rooted  down  and  back  through  his 
whole  life.  All  his  knowledge  and  experience  will  enter 
into  his  teaching  and  make  it  rich  or  poor  according  as 
his  general  culture  is  deep  or  shallow. 

The  preparation  of  the  lesson  first  takes  in  a  general 
view  of  the  context  and  course  of  the  lessons.  A  topical 
lesson  usually  includes  a  passage  of  ten  or  fifteen  verses 
and  is  one  of  a  series  running  through  a  book  or  books 
of  the  Bible.  It  is  obvious  that  the  teacher  must  have 
some  knowledge  of  this  general  background  and  frame- 
work of  the  lesson.  Not  only  should  the  intervening 
chapters  be  read,  but  the  general  history  should  be 
studied  so  as  to  give  a  clear  view  of  the  whole  course  of 
events.  The  class  also  should  engage  in  this  study  and 
have  this  general  knowledge.  This  enables  teacher  and 
scholar  to  fit  the  particular  lesson  into  its  place 
and  study  it  in  the  light  of  the  larger  scene. 

Next  comes  the  preparation  of  the  lesson  itself.  The 
first  thing  is  to  look  over  the  passage  as  one  looks  out 
over  a  landscape  and  sees  its  striking  features.  There 
is  nearly  always  a  central  thought  or  picturesque  scene 
in  a  lesson  to  which  all  its  lines  converge;  one  thread 
that  will  unravel  its  whole  web.  Such  a  plan  usually 
lies  on  the  surface  of  the  passage,  and  if  the  teacher 
finds  it  for  himself,  even  though  it  is  not  the  best  out- 
line, yet  it  may  be  the  best  for  him.  This  outline  should 
be  engraved  like  a  sketch  map  on  the  teacher's  mind. 
Get  hold  of  this,  imbed  it  firmly  in  the  memory,  and  let 
other  points  fall  into  subordinate  places.  It  is  a  mis- 
take to  try  to  teach  everything  or  to  make  all  things 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  TEACHING      359 

equally  important  in  a  lesson.  One  can  find  all  the 
deep  things  of  theology  in  almost  any  verse,  just  as  a 
scientist  can  find  all  the  wonders  of  the  universe  in 
a  pebble.  It  is  almost  as  important  to  know  what  not 
to  teach  as  to  know  what  to  teach;  to  keep  many  in- 
cidents and  thoughts  in  the  background  and  push  a 
few  prominent  ones  into  the  foreground;  to  let  the 
flock  go  and  run  one  goose  down. 

In  the  light  of  this  outline  the  teacher  should  care- 
fully study  the  lesson,  reading  it  over  thoughtfully, 
fixing  the  meaning  of  its  words,  tracing  the  logical 
links  of  the  passage,  comparing  it  with  other  Scripture, 
and  endeavouring  to  recreate  in  his  own  mind  the  scene 
and  thought  as  it  lay  in  the  historian's  mind  or  before 
the  prophet's  vision.  He  should  endeavour  to  dissolve 
the  crystallized  words  in  his  mind  so  that  they  will 
melt  back  into  the  original  meaning  of  the  Scripture 
writer  and  saturate  his  own  soul  with  the  same  truth. 
This  is  the  psychology  of  words,  as  we  have  seen,^  and 
by  this  means  the  teacher  is  first  to  fill  his  mind  with 
the  words  of  the  lesson  and  find  that  they  "  are  spirit 
and  are  life." 

The  principle  of  association  ^  and  the  process  of  medi- 
tation ^  play  an  important  part  in  this  preparation. 
Association  causes  all  the  kindred  ideas  in  the  mind 
and  down  in  the  subconsciousness  to  tiock  around  the 
lesson  and  pour  their  fuel  into  its  fire.  Meditation 
stimulates  association  and  brings  out  all  its  resources. 
And  thus  as  the  teacher's  mind  plays  around  and 
broods  over  the  lesson  and  works  down  into  its  depths 
it  opens  out  and  l)egins  to  disclose  points  of  light  and 
grows  luminous  until  the  whole  lesson  seems  to  be 
ablaze  with  new  meaning  and  beauty  and  power.    The 

»  Pp.  228-234.  '  i'p.  32-35.  '  Pp.  22U-233. 


360       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

most  familiar  verse  or  word  may  suddenly  glow  and 
sparkle  as  a  diamond.  It  is  thus  the  teacher's  eyes  are 
opened  and  he  beholds  wondrous  things  out  of  the  les- 
son. When  the  teacher's  mind  is  thus  illuminated  and 
his  soul  absorbed  by  the  Scripture  he  is  ready  to  teach 
with  contagious  interest  and  enthusiasm. 

The  help  of  a  good  commentary  will  be  needed  to 
clear  up  difficulties  in  the  lesson.  But  never  mind 
about  trying  to  explain  all  the  obscure  things  in  the  les- 
son while  preparing  it.  It  may  be  well  to  run  one  or 
two  difficulties  down,  but  there  are  many  things  in 
every  lesson  the  teacher  can  afford  to  let  go.  A  few 
points  studied  thoroughly  will  give  the  teacher  a  sense 
of  confidence  and  command  over  the  lesson  that  will  be 
better  than  much  superficial  reading. 

Lesson  helps  are  a  good  thing,  but  like  every  good 
thing  they  may  be  misused.  They  may  lead  us  away 
from  the  study  of  the  Bible  into  miscellaneous  reading 
about  the  Bible;  sometimes  they  so  overlay  the  lesson 
that  we  cannot  see  the  woods  for  the  trees.  They  are 
apt  to  overload  our  minds  with  a  mass  of  undigested 
information;  and  their  chief  mischief  is  that  we  may 
let  them  do  all  our  thinking  for  us  and  get  no  ideas  of 
our  own.  Better  far  that  we  read  less,  and  think  more ; 
depend  less  on  the  knowledge  of  others  and  more  upon 
our  own  study  and  thought.  One  can  really  teach  only 
such  truths  as  by  reflection  and  experience  he  has  made 
his  own.  The  raw  materials  of  coal  and  coke  and 
limestone  and  ore  that  are  poured  into  the  top  of  the 
blast  furnace  melt  down  through  its  burning  heart  and 
come  out  at  the  bottom  in  a  glowing  stream  of  molten 
metal;  so  should  all  the  materials  of  Scripture  study 
pass  down  through  the  heart  of  the  teacher  and  come 
out  as  living  streams  of  experience  and  then  he  can  go 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  TEACHING       361 

before  his  class  and  speak  that  he  does  know  and  testify 
that  he  has  seen. 

III.    The  Teacher  Before  the  Class 

When  the  teacher  appears  before  the  class  his  part  is 
that  of  a  leader.  He  is  not  a  lecturer  to  take  up  all  the 
time  with  a  general  discourse  on  the  lesson ;  much  less 
is  he  there  to  show  off  the  knowledge  he  has  gathered  in 
his  preparation.  The  good  teacher  never  tells  all  he 
knows,  and  he  gives  the  impression  that  all  he  says  is 
only  a  hint  of  what  he  might  say.  The  sun  never  lets 
all  its  light  shine.  Emerson  says  that  we  never  quite 
resi)ect  the  man  that  tells  us  all  he  knows;  and  the 
teacher  that  talks  so  much  that  no  one  else  can  say 
anything  is  likely  to  lose  the  respect  of  his  scholars. 
The  impression  of  reserve  power  is  often  one  of  the 
greatest  factors  in  the  influence  of  a  preacher  or 
teacher.  The  hearers  of  Phillips  Brooks  often  felt  what 
tremendous  things  he  could  say  if  he  would  only  let 
himself  out.  The  teacher  needs  to  restrain  himself  with 
ihis  wise  reserve  and  not  say  too  much.  He  is  not  a 
monologist  and  should  not  monopolize  the  time.  It 
is  just  as  important  to  know  how  and  when  to  close 
the  mouth  as  to  open  it,  and  the  teacher  whose  mouth 
is  always  running  has  yet  to  learn  one  very  vital  point 
in  the  art  of  teaching.  The  wisdom  of  the  teacher  is 
rather  to  be  measured  by  what  he  can  get  his  scholars 
to  say  than  by  what  he  says  himself. 

The  teacher,  equally  with  the  i)rearher,  needs  to  be 
on  liis  guard  against  any  dogmatic  and  dictatorial  air 
in  conducting  the  lesson.  He  should  have  ])ositive 
views  which  he  should  assert  with  decision  and  earnest- 
ness, but  should  not  seek  to  iinpos<^  them  on  others  by 
mere  authority.    The  fullest  freedom  and  liberty  should 


362      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

be  invited  and  encouraged  in  the  way  of  discussion  and 
differences  of  views.  It  should  be  open  to  any  scholar 
to  ask  any  question  in  connection  with  the  lesson,  and 
when  the  teacher  cannot  answer  it  he  should  frankly 
"say  so,  and  such  confession,  instead  of  injuring  the 
standing  of  the  teacher,  may  rather  increase  confidence 
in  him.  Such  questions  may  be  referred  to  the  class, 
and  if  no  one  can  answer  them  they  can  be  reserved  for 
further  study  and  report.  Such  a  question  can  often 
be  referred  to  some  member  or  members  of  the  class  for 
this  purpose. 

The  teacher  will  encounter  views  that  he  may  not 
think  correct  or  Scriptural  or  orthodox,  and  while  he 
may  be  positive  in  expressing  himself  on  such  points  he 
should  not  infringe  on  the  independence  and  liberty  of 
mind  of  the  scholars.  Anything  like  browbeating  and 
suppressing  differences  of  views  and  doubts  is  as  ill- 
advised  and  unjust  and  fatal  in  its  consequences  in  a 
Sunday  school  class  as  in  the  pulpit.  Of  course  much 
depends  at  this  point  on  the  age  of  scholars,  but  scholars 
of  any  degree  of  maturity  should  have  their  independ-' 
ence  and  individuality  of  mind  respected.  The  teacher 
should  be  among  his  scholars  as  a  comrade,  even  as  a 
servant.  The  preacher  stands  on  a  platform  at  a  higher 
level  than  his  congregation,  but  the  teacher  is  usually 
down  on  the  floor  with  his  scholars,  and  this  is  signifi- 
cant of  a  closer  personal  relation  in  which  the  teacher 
and  the  scholars  are  workers  together  in  learning  the 
truth. 

The  whole  personality  of  the  teacher  counts  at  this 
point,  and  his  vital  influence  as  a  teacher  will  depend 
more  on  what  he  is  than  on  what  he  savs.  He  mav  not 
always  be  able  to  clear  up  difficult  points  in  the  lesson 
and  may  make  mistakes,  but  if  he  wins  the  confidence 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  TEACHING       363 

and  love  of  his  scholars  he  will  be  a  good  teacher  for 
them  and  he  will  win  their  souls. 

IV.    The  Art  of  Questioning 

The  lesson  must  be  held  well  in  hand  by  the  teacher, 
or  it  will  drift  about  and  run  into  all  kinds  of  discus- 
sion and  get  into  confusion.  There  should  be  consider- 
able liberty  in  this  direction,  but  it  is  best  to  confine 
the   lesson  to  the  outline  and  cluster  the  questions 

around  the  main  points. 

Questioning  is  a  fine  and  often  a  difiScult  art.  We 
might  think  that  anybody  could  ask  a  question  on  any 
subject,  but  it  may  take  as  much  knowledge  to  ask  a 
good  question  as  to  answer  it.  It  takes  an  expert  law- 
yer to  put  the  right  questions  to  a  witness,  and  there  is 
equal  need  of  expert  questioning  in  teaching.  Socrates, 
the  greatest  teacher  of  antiquity,  was  simply  a  walking 
interrogation  point,  going  around  asking  men  ques- 
tions. With  a  few  simple  and  apparently  innocent  and 
easy  questions  he  could  puncture  and  expose  the  empty 
ignorance  of  the  most  conceited  sophist  and  reduce  him 
to  pitiful  helplessness;  or  he  could  draw  out  a  sincere 
fieeker  after  truth  and  lead  him  into  clearer  definitions 
and  larger  views.  Socrates  had  a  theory  that  all 
knowledge  lies  latent  in  the  human  mind  and  that  all 
that  is  needed  to  draw  it  out  is  a  series  of  questions  to 
bring  it  to  remembrance.  In  a  remarkable  passage  in 
the  "  Meno  "  he  questions  a  slave  boy  as  to  what  he 
knows  about  a  right-angled  triangle  and  draws  out  of 
him  the  knowledge  that  the  square  of  the  hypothenu.se 
is  equal  to  the  sum  of  the  scpiares  of  the  other  two 
sides.  This  complex  proposition  is  a  stinnbling  block  to 
many  a  high  school  or  college  student,  but  this  slave 
boy  under  simple  questioning  knew  it.    It  is  a  wonder- 


364      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

ful  feat  in  pedagogy,  and  shows  what  skilful  question- 
ing can  do. 

Another  master  in  the  art  of  questioning  was  Jesus, 
the  divine  Teacher.  Much  of  his  teaching  was  carried 
on  by  asking  questions.  Often  instead  of  asserting  a 
truth  on  his  authority  he  would  submit  it  to  his  hear- 
ers with  the  question,  "What  think  ye?"  or  "What 
man  of  you"  would  not  do  so  and  so?  He  thus,  like 
Socrates,  drew  the  truth  he  was  teaching  right  out  of 
the  minds  and  bosoms  of  his  hearers.  He  appealed 
to  their  own  experience  and  made  it  confirm  his  own 
teaching.  When  the  Pharisees  and  Scribes  were  trying 
to  entangle  him  with  their  cunningly  devised  questions, 
he  often  turned  their  own  snare  into  a  net  with  which 
he  caught  them  and  reduced  them  to  helplessness. 
His  dialectical  encounters  with  these  enemies  are 
among  the  most  remarkable  features  of  his  ministry. 
His  lessons  were  conversations  in  which  question  and 
answer  were  the  means  of  instruction. 

There  are  two  points  in  the  art  of  questioning  which 
the  teacher  needs  to  keep  in  mind.  One  is  that  the 
question  should  be  adapted  to  the  knowledge  of  the 
scholar;  it  should  find  a  point  of  contact  with  and  fit 
into  the  scholar's  state  of  mind.  If  it  is  addressed  to 
his  ignorance  and  is  unintelligible  to  him,  it  will  only 
bewilder  and  confuse  him.  But  when  it  enters  the  mind 
as  a  seed  that  finds  its  appropriate  soil  it  will  quickly 
take  root  and  grow  up;  it  will  call  forth  the  latent 
resources  of  the  mind;  all  the  scholar's  associations 
will  flock  to  the  question  to  help  answer  it.  This  is  the 
principle  of  "  apperception  "  already  explained.^  The 
scholar  hears  each  question  through  his  existing  knowl- 
edge or  total  state  of  mind,  and  therefore  a  good  ques- 

»Pp.  29-30. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  TEACHING       365 

tion  will  appeal  to  this  content  and  arouse  it  into 
action.  The  secret  of  Socrates's  success  with  the  slave 
boy  was  that  he  kept  constantly  appealing  to  what  the 
boy  did  know  and  thus  drew  out  of  him  what  was 
latent  in  his  mind. 

Another  closely  allied  principle  is  that  of  the  in- 
dividuality of  the  mind  of  each  scholar.^  The  minds  of 
the  scholars  may  look  very  much  alike  to  the  teacher, 
but  a  deeper  look  discloses  endless  and  profound  differ- 
ences even  in  a  graded  class.  A  question  is  not  the 
same  question  to  any  two  scholars,  but  it  arouses  dif- 
ferent associations  and  meanings  in  their  minds.  The 
teacher  is  disposed  to  standardize  his  teaching  and  ex- 
pect it  to  fit  equally  all  the  minds  in  the  class.  But  as 
he  grows  acquainted  with  them  he  will  begin  to  note 
their  individualities  and  adapt  his  questions  to  their 
varying  states.  In  time  the  practised  teacher  will  learn 
instinctively  to  know  and  respect,  and  adapt  his  teach- 
ing to,  the  individual  knowledge  and  state  and  needs  of 
his  scholars. 

A  question  should  be  definite  and  clear  and  yet  it 
should  not  answer  itself.  Of  course  the  teacher  must 
ask  many  questions  having  obvious  answers,  for  he 
should  catch  the  dullest  minds  in  his  class.  A  good 
question  reaches  after  principles  and  suggests  thought 
and  stirs  up  interest.  It  strikes  the  mind  and  makes 
it  ring  as  the  clapper  strikes  the  lx?il.  All  the  differ- 
ence between  good  teaching  and  poor  may  consist  in  the 
(jucslions  askod.  Therefore  the  teacher  should  study 
this  art  and  practise  writing  out  (juestions  that  bristle 
with  points  and  prick  the  mind  with  attention  and 
interest.  The  preparation  of  such  questions  may  be  an 
important  part  of  the  preparation  of  the  lesson. 

^Pp.   05-68. 


366      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

V.    The  Use  of  Imagination  and  Illustration 

What  has  been  said  as  to  the  use  of  imagination  and 
illustration  in  preaching  applies  with  little  change  to 
teaching.  The  lack  of  the  power  to  make  a  subject  in- 
teresting is  as  fatal  in  teaching  as  in  preaching,  and 
the  teacher  must  make  every  eiffort  to  save  the  lesson 
from  being  dry  and  dull  and  to  brighten  it  up  with 
interest;  and  one  of  the  chief  means  to  this  end  in 
teaching  as  in  preaching  is  the  use  of  imagination  and 
illustration. 

The  lesson  usually  contains  a  scene  and  this  should 
be  put  before  the  class  as  a  picture.  The  Bible  is  a 
highly  picturesque  book,  full  of  oriental  action  and 
colour,  and  the  teacher,  as  well  as  the  preacher  and 
every  reader,  should  endeavour  to  see  it  in  this  light, 
and  this  will  make  its  spiritual  truth  vivid  and  bring 
it  home  to  us.  For  the  smaller  scholars  the  lesson  may 
be  told  as  a  story,  which  will  set  it  on  the  stage  of  the 
imagination,  and  the  same  effect  should  be  produced 
with  all  grades.  A  lesson  consisting  of  a  parable  or 
miracle  in  the  gospels  or  a  dramatic  scene  in  the  Old 
Testament  is  more  than  half  taught  when  it  is  simply; 
seen  and  realized  by  the  imagination.  The  teacher 
should  cultivate  the  insight  and  power  of  seeing  the 
picture  in  the  lesson  and  so  telling  or  suggesting  it,  it 
may  be  as  a  mere  sketch  in  a  few  broad  strokes,  that 
the  class  will  see  it  also. 

The  author  once  heard  a  teacher  describe  how  he  got 
some  small  scholars  in  a  school  he  was  visiting  to  real- 
ize the  height  of  a  mountain.  The  lesson  was  about  a 
mountain  the  height  of  which  was  given  as  fourteen 
thousand  feet.  This  teacher  saw  that  the  children  had 
no  slightest  conception  of  such  a  height,  it  was  a  mere 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  TEACHING      367 

meaningless  name  to  them,  and  they  were  dull-eyed  and 
indifferent.  The  visiting  teacher,  who  was  the  super- 
intendent of  the  district,  took  the  class  in  hand.  There 
was  a  mountain  just  out  through  the  window  about  a 
thousand  feet  high,  which  was  familiar  to  the  scholars. 
The  teacher  had  the  children  look  at  it,  and  then  told 
them  to  imagine  another  mountain  a  thousand  feet  high 
shoved  up  on  top  of  it;  then  he  told  them  to  imagine  a 
third  mountain  a  thousand  feet  high  shoved  up  on  top 
of  these  two;  and  he  kept  on  until  he  had  seven  moun- 
tains piled  up  in  this  way.  Then  he  took  a  daring 
leap.  He  asked  the  scholars  to  imagine  two  such  moun- 
tains each  seven  thousand  feet  high  and  then  to  lift 
one  of  these  up  and  put  it  on  top  of  the  other:  there 
was  a  mountain  fourteen  thousand  feet  hi^rh !  Bv  this 
time  the  eyes  of  the  children  were  sparkling  with  in- 
terest and  their  heads  were  dizzy  with  the  height  of  that 
mountain,  which  they  now  saw  almost  as  plainly  as 
though  it  were  before  their  vision.  Imagination  showed 
it  to  them  and  gave  them  a  vivid  sense  of  its  towering 
height,  and  it  was  a  great  teacher  that  enabled  them  to 
see  it.  Every  teacher,  whether  in  the  day  school  or  the 
Sunday  school,  can  cultivate  this  art  and  do  much 
by  this  means  to  visualize  and  realize  the  lesson. 

Illustrations  are  means  to  the  same  end.  A  remark- 
able feature  of  the  Bible  is  that  it  always  seems  to  be 
a  contemporary  book,  paralleling  the  principles  and 
events  of  our  day,  so  that  it  retlects  our  life,  and  our 
life  illuminates  and  explains  it.  This  enables  us  to  find 
illustrations  lying  thick  around  us  that  show  us  its 
teachings  in  living  o[)erati()n,  and  the  teacher,  like 
the  preacher,  should  cultivate  the  art  of  seeing  and 
applying  those  illustrations.  Lesson  helps  and  com- 
mentaries supply  many  illustrations,  but  the  ones  the 


368      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

teacher  finds  himself  will  probably  be  the  best  in  his 
hands.  Sometimes  a  striking  illustration  can  be  found 
of  a  statement  or  scene  in  the  lesson  that  will  make 
it  flame  before  the  imagination.  When  Isaiah,  to  illus- 
trate the  greatness  of  God,  exclaims,  "  Behold,  he  tak- 
eth  up  the  isles  as  a  very  little  thing"  (40:  15),  the 
teacher  can  give  an  account  of  the  explosion  of  the 
isle  of  Krakatao,  near  Java,  in  1883,  in  which  a  moun- 
tain a  cubic  mile  in  volume  was  literally  blown  into 
dust  and  scattered  on  the  winds  around  the  earth,  the 
explosion  being  heard  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  away, 
sending  waves  across  the  Pacific  that  rolled  in  destruc- 
tion upon  South  American  coasts,  and  reddening  the 
sunset  skies  for  more  than  a  year.  Such  an  impressive 
event  enables  us  to  understand  more  vividly  how  God 
"sitteth  upon  the  circle  of  the  earth,"  and  picks  up 
islands  as  pebbles  and  blows  them  away  as  dust.  The 
resourceful  teacher  will  be  on  the  outlook  for  good 
illustrations  and  may  keep  notes  of  them,  and  by  this 
means  he  can  make  every  lesson  interesting  and  keep 
his  class  alive  and  alert. 

VI.  Getting  the  Scholars  to  Work 
An  important  part  of  the  teacher's  work  is  to  get  the 
scholars  to  work.  It  is  not  the  business  of  the  teacher 
to  do  the  scholar's  work  for  him  and  keep  him  passive 
while  he  pours  truth  into  his  mind.  This  may  be  easy 
and  pleasant  and  even  entertaining  for  the  scholar,  but 
it  is  really  doing  him  an  injury.  Because  the  teacher  is 
keeping  the  class  interested  with  his  stories  and  lively 
personality  and  talk,  he  may  think  he  is  doing  good 
work,  whereas  he  may  be  doing  the  poorest  kind  of  work 
and  even  work  that  is  worse  than  none.  The  object  of 
teaching  is  not  simply  to  impart  information,  but  to 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  TEACHING       369 

develop  the  mental  faculties  of  the  scholar  so  that  he 
can  get  information  and  test  it  and  produce  thought  for 
himself.  Mere  knowledge  is  only  the  food  that  is  placed 
in  the  mental  stomach ;  the  food  must  be  digested  into 
intellectual  blood  and  brain,  into  thought  power,  or 
it  will  do  no  good  and  may  even  do  harm.  The  teacher 
is  to  teach  the  scholar  how  to  see  facts  and  relations, 
grasp  principles  and  apply  laws  for  himself.  It  is  not 
his  office  simply  to  teach  his  own  opinions  and  beliefs, 
pouring  the  contents  of  his  mind  into  the  moulds  of 
his  scholars'  minds,  but  to  teach  them  how  to  use 
their  minds  so  as  to  form  their  own  conclusions  and 
beliefs.  He  is  not  interested  so  much  in  what  they 
think  as  in  how  they  think.  Dr.  Thomas  Arnold 
moulded  a  generation  of  English  boys  into  noble  men, 
not  by  imposing  upon  them  his  intellectual  and  moral 
beliefs,  but  by  imparting  to  them  his  intellectual  and 
moral  processes,  his  honesty  and  humility,  his  candour 
and  sincerity,  his  patience  and  charity  of  mind.  He 
aroused  their  whole  mental  and  moral  nature  and  de- 
veloped it  into  independence  and  power  of  action,  and 
this  made  his  boys  men,  many  of  whom  afterwards  sat 
in  the  seats  of  the  mighty. 

Referring  again  to  Plato's  Dialogue  "  Meno,"  in 
which  Socrates  taught  the  slave  boy  the  proposition  in 
geometry,  we  see  that  it  is  a  psychological  masterpiece 
of  teaching  because  Socrates  did  not  tell  him  anything 
as  readv-made  information,  but  rather  set  the  bov's 
own  mind  to  work  so  that  he  saw  each  step  of  the 
process  for  himself.  Let  us  listen  to  the  dialogue  be- 
tween Socrates  and  the  bov  as  it  starts  off: 

Soc,  Toll  me,  boy,  do  you  know  that  a  figure  like  this 
is  a  squai-e? 


370      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

Boy.    I  do. 

Soc.  And  do  you  know  that  a  square  figure  has  these 
four  lines  equal? 

Boy.   Yes. 

Soc.   A  square  may  be  of  any  size? 

Boy.    Certainly. 

Soc.  And  if  one  side  of  the  figure  be  of  two  feet,  and 
the  other  side  of  two  feet,  how  much  will  the  whole 
be?  Let  me  explain:  if  in  one  direction  the  space  was 
of  two  feet,  and  in  the  other  direction  of  one  foot,  the 
whole  would  be  of  two  feet  taken  once? 

Boy.   Yes. 

Soc.  But  since  this  side  is  also  of  two  feet,  there  are 
twice  two  feet  ? 

Boy.    There  are. 

Soc.    Then  the  square  is  of  twice  two  feet? 

Boy.   Yes. 

Soc.  And  how  many  are  twice  two  feet?  count  and 
tell  me. 

Boy.   Four,  Socrates. 

The  dialogue  runs  its  course  and  comes  to  this  con- 
clusion : 

Soc.  And  that  is  the  line  which  the  learned  call  the 
diagonal.  And  if  this  is  the  proper  name,  then  you, 
Meno's  slave,  are  prepared  to  affirm  that  the  double 
space  is  the  square  of  the  diagonal? 

Boy.    Certainly,  Socrates. 

Soc.  What  do  you  say  of  him,  Meno  ?  Were  not  all 
these  answers  given  out  of  his  own  head  ? 

Men.   True.^ 

*  Jowett's  Dialogues  of  Plato,  Vol.  I,  pp.  256-260. 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  TEACHING      371 

This  is  great  teaching  because  it  is  stimulating  the 
boy's  own  faculties  to  see  things  and  follow  them  out 
to  their  logical  conclusion. 

Now  this  general  principle  applies  to  teaching  in 
the  Sunday  school  as  well  as  in  the  day  school  and 
university.  The  teacher  is  not  set  over  the  scholars 
simply  to  tell  them  what  to  believe  about  the  lesson. 
This  would  often  be  the  shortest  and  easiest  w^ay  out 
of  the  matter,  but  it  would  accomplish  little  or  noth- 
ing. The  teacher  should  aim  at  getting  the  scholars  to 
work  the  lesson  out  for  themselves.  This  means  that 
they  should  study  the  lesson  before  coming  to  the 
class,  and  to  get  back  into  the  scholar's  preparation 
of  the  lesson  and  see  that  it  is  done  is  part  of  the 
teacher's  work. 

In  handling  the  lesson  before  the  class  the  teacher 
should  not  be  too  forward  in  bringing  out  the  points 
and  applications  of  the  lesson,  but  should  draw  these 
out  of  the  scholars  themselves.  Every  means  should 
be  used  to  encourage  the  scholars  to  do  their  own 
thinking  and  form  their  own  conclusions.  Even  chil- 
dren should  be  taught  not  as  parrots  but  as  persons. 
The  teacher  should  respect  the  minds  and  mental  rights 
of  his  scholars,  and  they  should  be  taught  to  feel  their 
intellectual  responsibility  and  to  respect  their  own 
judgment.  Any  spirit  in  the  teacher  tliat  discourages 
and  sni>presses  independent  discussion  and  thought  is  a 
mistake  on  the  part  of  the  teacher  and  may  be  a  serious 
injury  to  the  scholar.  It  is  possible  by  such  means  to 
I)lant  the  seeds  of  doubt  in  young  minds  and  send  scep- 
tics right  out  of  our  Sunday  schools.  While  of  course 
any  irreverent  and  rntionalistic  spirit  should  not  be 
suggested,  yet  scholars  should  be  encouraged  to  search 


372      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

the  Scriptures,  whe'^her  these  things  are  so,  and  to  try 
the  spirits,  whether  they  be  of  God. 

"  Sayest  thou  this  thing  of  thyself,  or  did  others  tell 
it  thee  of  me?"  (John  18:34),  was  a  searching  ques- 
tion put  by  Jesus  to  Pilate,  and  the  same  question  goes 
to  the  root  of  our  knowledge  and  of  our  scholars'  knowl- 
edge. Do  we  know  these  things  pertaining  to  salva- 
tion of  ourselves,  or  did  others  simply  tell  us  of  them? 
If  we  do  not  know  them  of  ourselves,  we  know  nothing 
as  we  ought  to  know  it.  Then  our  knowledge  is  second- 
hand, report  and  rumour,  and  not  first-hand,  personal, 
experimental  knowledge.  So  our  scholars  should  know 
the  truths  of  Scripture,  not  because  they  have  been 
told  about  them,  but  because  they  know  these  things 
of  themselves,  having  grasped  them  in  their  minds  and 
realized  them  in  their  experience. 

VII.    The  Teacher's  Interest  in  the  Scholar 

There  is  something  deeper  in  teaching  than  question 
and  answer,  the  impartation  of  knowledge  and  intellec- 
tual stimulation,  and  that  is  the  spirit  of  vital  sympathy 
and  fellowship  that  should  bind  the  teacher  and  scholar 
together.  If  they  sustain  only  an  external  oflScial  rela- 
tion, it  will  yield  little  profit  to  either  and  may  be 
attended  with  unpleasant  friction  and  even  galling 
bondage.  The  Sunday  school  teacher  especially  should 
be  interested  in  the  scholar  and  be  enthusiastic  and 
absorbed  in  the  work.  If  teaching  is  only  a  perfunc- 
tory duty  to  him  it  will  be  drudgery;  but  if  it  is  in- 
teresting and  inspiring  it  will  be  a  delight. 

This  opens  a  wide  subject  in  itself  on  which  only  a 
few  suggestions  can  here  be  made.  The  teacher  should 
study  not  only  his  lesson  but  also  his  scholars;  he 
should  study  their  characters  and  circumstances,  get 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  TEACHING       373 

into  the  secret  of  their  lives,  and  the  study  will  develop 
unexpected  interest  and  even  fascination. 

All  people  are  interesting  when  we  have  the  insight 
to  see  into  them.  It  is  sometimes  thought  that  the  mass 
of  human  beings  are  a  dull  plodding  crowd  and  that 
only  a  few  bright  minds  are  worth  our  notice.  This 
is  a  great  mistake.  Nothing  is  uninteresting  if  only 
we  have  eyes  to  see  it.  Ruskin  wrote  one  of  his  noblest 
lectures  on  the  yellow  iron  stain  he  saw  on  the  marble 
rim  of  a  fountain  in  the  town  where  he  had  been  in- 
vited to  speak.  Huxley  has  a  profound  lecture  on  a 
"  Piece  of  Chalk,"  and  a  French  author  has  written  an 
entertaining  volume  on  The  Story  of  a  Stick.  If  these 
things  properly  studied  are  interesting,  how  much  more 
so  are  men  and  women  and  children.  Men  of  genius 
see  this  and  base  their  art  upon  it.  Ruskin  says  of 
Turner :  "  One  hour  he  is  interested  in  a  gust  of  wind 
blowing  away  an  old  woman's  cap ;  the  next  he  is  paint- 
ing the  Fifth  Plague  of  Egypt.  A  soldier's  wife  resting 
by  the  roadside  is  not  beneath  his  sympathy;  Rizpah 
watching  the  dead  bodies  of  her  sons  not  above  it. 
Nothing  can  possibly  be  so  mean  that  it  will  not  inter- 
est his  whole  mind  and  carry  away  his  whole  heart." 

The  fictitious  characters  that  move  across  the  pages 
of  a  novel  whom  we  follow  with  such  interest  are  just 
such  i)ersons  as  move  around  us  in  real  life;  only  the 
novelist  has  the  genius  to  see  their  interesting  traits 
and  portray  them  for  us.  Sir  Walter  Scott  said  that 
there  is  romnnce  enough  in  every  life  for  a  three-volume 
novel.  So  we  are  not  to  think  that  we  are  to  go  far  and 
hunt  fur  some  exceptionally  bright  juTson  to  lind  one 
worthy  of  our  sympathy  and  study,  !)ut  just  take  the 
next  man  or  woman  or  child  and  study  that  life,  get 
into  its  inner  exi)eriences  and  secrets,  and  there  will 


374      THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

be  unearthed  an  unexpected  wealth  of  fascination. 
Your  next-door  neighbour  may  be  just  as  interesting  as 
the  Queen  of  England;  at  least  she  is  more  accessible. 
If  we  were  to  take  the  first  little  ragged  urchin  we  meet 
in  the  street  and  could  get  into  his  heart  and  see  his 
thoughts  and  plans,  his  joys  and  sorrows,  his  original- 
ities, the  unique  things  in  that  little  breast  that  never 
were  before,  we  would  see  that  which  would  fascinate 
us  and  teach  us  great  lessons,  throw  us  into  laughter 
or  fill  our  eyes  with  tears. 

This  interest  inherent  in  every  individual  life,  even 
in  the  most  commonplace  one,  is  vastly  heightened  by 
the  immortal  and  infinite  worth  of  every  soul.  Per- 
sonal gifts  and  traits  of  originality,  interesting  in- 
dividuality, and  even  genius  are  superficial  and  unim- 
portant in  comparison  with  the  deep  and  lasting  worth 
common  to  all  men.  "  One  ruddy  drop  of  human  blood 
the  surging  sea  outweighs,"  and  any  humblest  child 
embodies  worth  surpassing  that  of  all  the  jewelled 
coronets  of  the  world.  The  sculptor  or  painter  commits 
his  ideas  to  and  spends  infinite  toil  upon  perishable 
materials,  he  is  only  shaping  crumbling  stone  or  colour- 
ing frail  canvas,  but  the  teacher  of  a  child  is  shaping 
immortal  spirit  and  helping  to  produce  a  portrait  of  a 
soul  that  will  outlast  the  stars  and  be  set  in  the  gal- 
lery of  eternity.  If  we  can  have  some  appreciation  of 
the  infinite  value  of  our  scholars  we  shall  at  least  take 
such  interest  in  them  as  the  artist  does  in  his  evan- 
escent work  and  build  ourselves  into  their  souls.  No 
teacher  knows  what  he  is  doing,  how  far  into  the  future 
he  is  reaching  when  he  is  training  a  child.  An  old 
German  schoolmaster  always  took  his  hat  off  to  each 
new  boy  that  came  into  his  school,  never  knowing  what 
elements  of  genius  might  have  been  mixed  in  his  newly 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  TEACHING       375 

moulded  brain.  When  Erasmus  came  out  of  that  school 
his  prophetic  instinct  was  justified.  Never  despise  a 
child,  for  in  it  sleeps  some  of  the  omnipotence  and 
worth  of  God. 

Teachers,  stud}'  your  scholars.  Get  into  their  inner 
life  and  explore  their  individuality.  You  will  thus  get 
interested  and  even  absorbed  in  them  and  your  duty 
may  be  transformed  and  transfigured  from  drudgery 
into  delight.  The  very  stupidest  pupil  in  the  class  will 
richly  repay  you  for  your  sympathy  and  self-sacrifice. 
The  dull  boy's  mind  is  always  the  wise  teacher's  prob- 
lem, and  he  may  teach  you  as  much  as  you  can  teach 
him.  You  will  learn  to  love  your  scholars  and  begin  to 
see  their  unique  and  immortal  worth,  the  divine  possi- 
bilities in  them.  You  will  look  on  them,  as  Jesus 
looked  on  men,  as  the  children  of  the  Father.  Then 
you  can  teach  them  and  have  an  influence  over  them, 
and  the  vital  touch  of  your  life  on  their  lives  will  be 
the  means  of  imparting  to  them  the  Spirit  of  Christ  and 
making  them  his. 

VIII.   Leading  Scholars  to  Christ 

What  is  it  for?  is  the  final  test  to  which  everything 
must  be  brought.  What  is  the  object  of  all  our  work  in 
the  Sundav  school?  It  is  not  mere  instruction  and 
education,  as  it  is  in  the  day  school.  It  is  conversion 
to  Christ  and  training  in  Christian  character  and  life. 
Teaching  the  Word  of  God  is  a  very  important  means, 
but  it  is  only  a  means,  to  this  end.  The  seed  of  truth 
is  sown  in  the  minds  of  the  scholars  that  it  may  si)ring 
up  in  Christian  fruit.  The  teacher  is  to  lead  his 
scliolars  to  Christ.  This  is  the  definite  and  final  end 
on  which  he  should  concentrate  all  his  teaching  and 
prayer  and  influence. 


376       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

This  end  should  dominate  the  work  before  the  class, 
and  jet  it  should  not  be  made  too  obtrusive.  The  per- 
sonal application  of  the  lesson  requires  wisdom  and 
tact.  It  is  not  wise  to  be  constantly  forcing  a  spiritual 
application  out  of  every  fact  and  detail.  It  is  possible 
thus  to  make  the  subject  of  personal  religion  distasteful 
to  scholars  and  defeat  the  very  end  of  teaching.  Yet 
the  instruction  should  always  have  a  practical  drift 
and  suggest  personal  duty.  The  Christian  life  should 
be  presented  in  its  true  light  as  life  more  abundant, 
full  of  liberty  and  joy,  and  not  as  a  narrower  life 
which  always  wears  the  sombre  aspect  of  restriction 
and  gloom.  It  should  be  presented  as  a  duty,  but  as  a 
glorious  duty  and  privilege  which  is  the  fullest  and 
richest  life  and  most  joyous  blessedness. 

In  order  that  we  may  make  our  class  work  effective 
and  lead  scholars  to  Christ,  we  must  endeavour  to  reach 
them  individually  by  personal  word  and  influence. 
Jesus  found  Philip  and  Philip  found  Nathanael:  that 
is  the  way  the  kingdom  started  and  has  been  extending 
ever  since;  each  convert  found  the  next,  and  thus  the 
golden  chain  has  lengthened  down  to  our  day  when 
some  one  found  each  one  of  us.  Jesus  in  healing  peo- 
ple generally  touched  them;  he  singled  them  out  and 
came  into  personal,  vital  relations  with  them.  When 
he  was  about  to  feed  the  five  thousand,  he  did  not  at- 
tempt to  deal  with  the  multitude  as  an  unorganized 
mass,  but  he  had  them  sit  down  in  ranks  of  hundreds 
and  fifties:  he  cut  up  his  work,  he  had  the  people 
arranged  so  that  he  could  get  at  them  one  by  one.  In 
our  preaching  and  teaching  we  too  often  seem  simply 
to  throw  the  bread  out  upon  the  multitude,  the  congre- 
gation, or  the  class,  instead  of  handing  it  to  them  one 
at  a  time.    We  need  to  get  close  to  our  scholars  in 


THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  TEACHING      377 

personal  and  private  relations  in  which  we  can  get  them 
one  ly  one. 

The  teacher  as  surely  as  the  preacher  is  called  to 
convert  souls  and  develop  them  in  the  Christian  life. 
Any  lower  view  or  frivolous  spirit  in  a  Sunday  school 
teacher  that  fails  to  see  or  interferes  with  this  mission 
is  pitiful  blindness  and  failure.  The  teacher  is  to  seek 
by  prayer  and  pointed  application  of  the  truth  and 
personal  private  word  and  influence  to  lead  each  scholar 
to  Christ.  He  should  have  a  passion  for  souls  that  will 
be  a  deep,  secret,  impelling  power  and  transfiguring 
spirit  in  his  work.  He  that  winneth  souls  is  wise. 
Then  and  not  till  then  will  the  final  end  of  Sunday 
school  teaching  be  realized,  and  the  teacher  will  have 
the  reward  and  joy  of  his  work. 

We  have  come  to  the  end  of  our  study.  Science  only 
takes  the  old  and  familiar  things  of  the  world  and  gives 
them  new  meaning  and  application,  but  we  still  have  to 
make  the  application,  and  they  will  serve  us  only  as  we 
rightly  use  them.  Psychology  has  not  given  us  any  new 
forms  and  forces  in  our  religious  life  and  work.  It  has 
only  opened  up  the  laws  and  workings  of  these  things 
and  enabled  us  to  understand  them  a  little  better. 
They  are  still  full  of  the  deep  things  of  God's  Word 
and  world,  margined  and  mingled  with  the  mystery 
of  all  life.  However  much  we  may  study  and  under- 
stand the  things  of  the  spirit,  our  increased  knowledge 
will  do  us  good  only  as  we  translate  it  into  obedienre 
and  experience.  Psychology  cannot  save  us;  only  the 
grace  of  the  Lord  Jesus  Christ  can  do  this.  Though  we 
understand  all  psychology  and  have  not  love,  we  are 
nothing.    Let  us  appreciate  and  appropriate  what  psy- 


378       THE  PSYCHOLOGY  OF  RELIGION 

chology  has  taught  us  and  continue  to  study  our  re- 
ligious life  and  work  in  its  growing  light  and  gain  all 
the  insight  and  efficiency  we  can  in  this  field  of  truth. 
But  let  us  above  all  grow  in  grace  and  in  the  knowl- 
edge of  our  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus  Christ,  that  we 
may  grow  up  into  him  in  all  things,  till  we  all  come  in 
the  unity  of  the  faith,  and  of  the  knowledge  of  the 
Son  of  God,  unto  a  full-grown  man,  unto  the  measure 
of  the  stature  of  the  fulness  of  Christ. 

Now  unto  the  King  eternal,  immortal,  invisible,  the 
only  wise  God,  be  honour,  and  glory  forever  and  ever. 
Amen. 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

As  a  suggestion  to  any  students  and  readers  that  may  wish 
to  pursue  this  subject  further  a  few  books  out  of  the  large  and 
rapidly  growing  literature  of  the  subject  are  here  named: 

(1)  The  works  of  William  James  hold  a  foremost  place  both 
in  general  and  in  religious  psychology.  His  Principles  of  Psy- 
chology (New  York:  Henry  Holt  and  Co.  Two  volumes, 
$5.00)  is  still  a  leading  authority  and  is  wonderfully  informing 
and  interesting,  even  for  the  general  reader.  His  Varieties  of 
Religious  Experience  (New  York:  Longmans,  Green,  and  Co. 
$3.50)  is  one  of  the  most  important  contributions  yet  made  to 
the  psychology  of  religion.  It  gathers  illustrations  of  religious 
experience  from  a  wide  field  and  comments  on  them  with  pene- 
trating suggestiveness.  His  Will  to  Believe  (Longmans,  Green, 
and  Co.  $2.00)  also  contains  much  psychological  and  philo- 
sophical matter  on  the  subject  of  religious  belief  of  unusual 
interest  and  value. 

(2)  The  Study  of  Religion,  by  Morris  Jastrow,  of  the  Uni- 
versity of  Pennsylvania  (New  York:  Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 
$1.50)  is  a  study  of  the  historical  origin  and  nature  of  religion 
and  its  relation  to  philosophy,  psychology,  ethics,  and  other 
fields  of  thought  and  life.  It  prepares  the  ground  for  the  special 
study  of  the  psychology  of  religion. 

(3)  The  Psychology  of  Religion,  by  Edwin  Diller  Starbuck, 
of  the  State  University  of  Iowa  (Charles  Scribner's  Sons. 
$1.50)  was  one  of  the  first  books  in  this  field  in  which  Pro- 
fessor Starbuck  was  a  pioneer  investigator.  His  book  covers 
only  the  psychology  of  conversion,  of  which  it  makes  a  thor- 
ough inductive  study.  Facts  were  collected  on  the  quest iona ire 
method,  and  on  the  answers  received  from  several  hundred  per- 
sons giving  their  experience  in  conversion  inductive  conclusions 
are  based.  It  is  still  one  of  the  best  books  on  the  psychology  of 
conversion. 

(4)  The  Spiritual  Life,  by  George  Albert  Coe,  of  the  Union 
Theological  Seminary,  New  York   (New  York:   Fleming  H.  Revell 

379 


380  BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE 

Co.  $1.00),  and  also  his  Religion  of  a  Mature  Mind  (Revell. 
$1.35)  are  early  and  still  valuable  contributions  to  the  subject. 
Professor  Coe  entered  upon  the  study  of  the  psychology  of  re- 
ligion almost  at  the  same  time  with  Professor  Starbuck,  and  the 
two  were  fellow-pioneers  in  this  field. 

(5)  The  Psychology  of  Religious  Experience,  by  Edward 
Scribner  Ames,  of  the  University  of  Chicago  (Boston:^  Houghton 
Mifflin  Co.  $3.50).  This  is  one  of  the  most  elaborate  general 
works  on  the  subject.  Part  I  sketches  the  history  and  method 
of  this  science;  Part  II  traces  the  origin  of  religion  in  the  race; 
Part  III  treats  of  the  rise  of  religion  in  the  individual;  and 
Part  IV  deals  with  the  place  of  religion  in  the  experience  of 
the  individual  and  society.  It  is  one  of  the  ablest  books  on  the 
subject,  but  the  author  holds  very  liberal  views  on  religion. 

(6)  The  Psychology  of  Religious  Belief,  by  James  Bissett 
Pratt,  of  Williams  College  (New  York:  The  Macmillan  Co. 
$1.50).  Part  I  develops  the  psychological  factors  of  belief; 
Part  II  traces  the  historical  origin  of  religion;  and  Part  III, 
on  the  "  Present  Status  of  Religious  Belief,"  discusses  the  devel- 
opment  of  religious  belief  in  childhood,  the  types  of  belief  in 
mature  life,  and  the  value  of  God. 

(7)  The  Psychological  Phenomena  of  Christianity,  by  George 
Barton  Cutten,  a  Baptist  pastor  and  educator  (Charles  Scribner's 
Sons.  $2.50).  There  are  thirty-two  chapters  in  this  book,  each 
of  which  treats  by  itself  some  aspect  of  the  religious  life,  such 
as  the  religious  faculty,  revivals,  conversion,  worship,  prayer, 
throwing  on  them  the  light  of  illustration  and  experience  gath- 
ered from  a  number  of  pastorates.  It  is  a  suggestive  popular 
treatment  of  the  subject. 

(8)  The  Philosophy  of  Christian  Experience,  by  Henry  W. 
Clark  (Revell.  $1.25).  "Not  twice  in  a  generation  does  one 
meet  with  so  valuable  an  analysis  of  experimental  religion  as 
Mr.  Henry  Clark  gives  us  in  his  *  Philosophy  of  Christian  E?:- 
perience.'  " — Marcus  Dods. 

(9)  Christian  Psychology,  by  James  Stalker,  of  the  United 
Free  Church  College,  Aberdeen  (New  York:  George  H.  Doran  Co. 
$1.25),  is  an  elementary  outline  of  psychology  with  applications 
to  Christian  faith  and  life.  It  would  be  a  good  book  for  a  be- 
ginner in  the  study  of  general  psychology. 

(10)  The  Psychology  of  the  Christian  Soul,  by  George  Steven, 


BIBLIOGRAPHICAL  NOTE  381 

an  Edinburgh  Presbyterian  pastor  (George  H.  Doran  Co.  $1.50). 
The  author  treats  the  religious  life  as  a  process  of  education 
and  traces  its  development  out  of  sin  through  conversion  to  "  the 
capture  of  the  bouI  by  God "  and  **  the  soul  in  the  presence  of 
God."  It  is  not  only  keen  in  its  psychological  analysis,  but  is 
also  a  practical  aid  in  the  Christian  life. 

(11)  Rational  Living,  by  Henry  Churchill  King,  President  of 
Oberlin  College  (The  Macmillan  Co.  $1.25),  applies  psychology 
to  the  whole  field  of  life,  treating  of  the  relations  of  mind  and 
body,  of  the  intellect  and  emotions  and  will  in  their  relation  to 
life,  and  making  practical  "  suggestions  for  living  "  of  the  highest 
value. 

(12)  Principles  of  Education,  by  Frederick  Elmer  Bolton,  Ph.D. 
(Charles  Scribner's  Sons.  $3.00).  This  large  volume  is  an 
elaborate  treatment  of  the  whole  subject  of  education  from 
biological  and  psychological  points  of  view.  It  is  a  very  illuminat- 
ing work  and  it  is  of  special  value  to  the  minister  as  well  as  to 
the  teacher. 


INDEX 


Allen,  Prof.  Alexander  V.  G., 
his  biography  of  Phillips 
Brooks,  314.. 

Ames,  Edward  Scribner,  his 
Psychology  of  Religious  Ex- 
perience, 380. 

Apperception,  29-30,  35. 

Arnold,  Matthew,  on  nature  of 
religion,  88;  on  the  meaning 
of  metanoia,  155;  on  philos- 
ophy, 338. 

Arnold,  Dr.  Thomas,  his  meth- 
ods of  teaching,  369. 

Astronomy,  value  to  the  min- 
ister, 329. 

Associations,  mental,  their  na- 
ture, 32-35;  their  laws,  34; 
how  they  multiply  under  at- 
tention, 49;  intensify  tempta- 
tion, 118-119. 

Athanasius,  referred  to,  283. 

Attention,  primary  form  of  the 
will,  48;  involuntary  and 
voluntary,  48-49;  its  selective 
power,  175-176. 

Augustine,  quoted,  93;  referred 
to,  283. 

Bad^,  Prof.  W.  F.,  quoted,  91. 

Balfour,  A.  J.,  on  prayer,  237. 

Baxter,  Richard,  referred  to, 
136;  on  ciiildliood  conversion, 
189. 

Beauty,  sense  of,  as  root  of  re- 
ligion, 98;  in  worship,  254- 
256;  in  literary  style,  306- 
308. 

Beechcr,  Henry  Ward,  quoted, 
277,  327;  his  humour,  311; 
his  imagination,  313;  his  style 
of  pulpit  dcliverv,  324;  re- 
ferred to,  313,  348. 

Beethoven,  referred  to,  2\3. 


Begbie,  Harold,  his  Twice-Born 
Men,  149-152. 

Bible,  the,  as  source  of  reli- 
gious psychology,  23-24 ; 
grew  out  of  experience,  90- 
93;  its  pedagogical  method, 
201-202;  a  storehouse  of  re- 
ligious truth,  208;  how  it  is 
spirit  and  life,  212-213;  full 
of  song,  243-244;  of  imagina- 
tion, 263,  366;  humour  in, 
310;  a  contemporary  book, 
367. 

Bolton,  Frederick  Elmer,  his 
Principles  of  Education,  381. 

Bourne,  Rev.  Ansel,  case  of, 
147. 

Brooks,  Phillips,  his  sermon 
topics,  295;  his  illustrations, 
308;  his  imagination,  314;  re- 
ferred to,  343,  348;  his  re- 
serve power,  361. 

Browning,  quoted,  16,  108,  178, 
193-194,  228;  referred  to, 
274;  his  imagination,  313. 

Bunyan,  John,  referred  to,  136. 

Burns,  quoted,  264. 

Bushnell,  Horace,  on  the  Chris- 
tian nurture  of  children,  187- 
189;  his  sermon  on  "Uncon- 
scious Influence,"  292. 

Ca»sar,  referred  to,  346. 
Caird,  Dr.   Edward,  on  nature 

of  religion,  88. 
Calvin,  referred  to,  283. 
Carlylc,  his  conversion,  144-145; 

(juoted,  318;  referred  to.  335. 
Carpenter,  Senator,  quoted,  320- 

321. 
Categories,  the,  29,  31. 
Chalmers,  Thomas,  quoted,  156, 


883 


384 


INDEX 


Character,  its  nature,  63-65;  in- 
dividuality of,  65-68,  282- 
287;  the  ideal  of  Christian, 
279-81;  is  it  a  bv-product? 
281-282. 

Children,  conversion  of,  186- 
190 ;  Christian  training  should 
be  adapted  to,  200-201. 

Church,  the,  as  the  appointed 
means  of  grace,  251-254;  de- 
nominations in,  286-287. 

Clark,  Henry  W.,  his  Philos- 
ophy of  Christian  Experi- 
ence, 380. 

Clemens,  Samuel  L.  (Mark 
Twain),  quoted,  156-157,  336. 

Coe,  George  Albert,  his  Spirit- 
ual Life  and  Religion  of  a 
Mature  Mind,  379. 

Coleridge,  quoted,  318. 

Columbus,  referred  to,  346-347. 

Concepts,  31-32. 

Conscience,  its  nature,  73-74; 
its  scale  of  values,  76-80;  au- 
thority of,  80-84;  growth  of 
social,  139-140. 

Conversion,  nature  of,  143;  in 
non-religious  fields,  144-147 ; 
of  Carlyle,  144-145;  of  John 
Stuart  Mill,  145-146;  of  Tol- 
stoy, 148-149 ;  of  "  Old  Born 
Drunk,"  150-152;  of  Paul, 
152-153;  means  of,  154-158; 
an  act  of  the  mind,  154-156; 
effected  by  a  new  interest, 
156-158;  three  steps  in,  re- 
pentance, faith,  and  obe- 
dience, 158-165;  the  three- 
cycle  movement  of  the  soul 
in,  165;  the  power  of  the  will 
in,  174-180;  the  age  of,  180- 
186;  types  of,  186-199;  child- 
hood conversions,  186-190; 
gradual,  190-192;  sudden  and 
violent,  192-194;  intellectual 
and  emotional,  194-197; 
sacred  song  as  a  means  of, 
246. 

Creeds,  nature  and  necessity  of, 
216-218. 

Criticism,  higher,  214. 


Cromwell,  quoted,  242. 
Curry,  S.  S.,  quoted,  325. 
Cutten,     George     Barton,     his 

Psychological   Phenomena   of 

Christianity,  380. 

Dante,  his  Inferno,  132. 

Darwin,  referred  to,  213. 

Delivery,  of  the  sermon,  dis- 
tinctness, 322-323 ;  varying 
modulation,  323-324;  conver- 
sational stj'le,  324-325. 

Demons,  86,  130-131. 

Demosthenes,   referred  to,  346. 

Denny,  James,  quoted,  350. 

Denominations,  uses  and  dan- 
gers of,  286-287. 

Dependence,  as  a  root  of  reli- 
gion, 95-96. 

De  Quincey,  quoted,  155,  333, 
336. 

Determinism,  55-56,  109,  134- 
135. 

Doctrines,  their  necessity,  218- 
219;  should  be  kept  up  to 
date,  219-220. 

Doddridge,  Philip,  referred  to, 
136. 

Dore,  referred  to,  132. 

Doubt,  nature  of,  220;  inherent 
in  the  constitution  of  the 
mind,  220-221;  not  a  hin- 
drance to  living,  221;  useful 
factor  in  knowledge,  221;  the 
moral  quality  of,  222-223;  not 
to  be  surprised  at  religions, 
223;  how  to  deal  with,  223- 
228. 

Edwards,      Jonathan,      quoted, 

133;  referred  to,  283. 
Edersheim,  Alfred,  quoted,  91. 
Emerson,  quoted,   16,  325,  361, 

374;  referred  to,  334. 
Emotions,  their  nature,  40-41. 
Erasmus,  referred  to,  375. 
Evolution,  214,  215. 

Fairbairn,  Principal,  on  the  pro- 
gressive nature  of  Christian 
truth,  215, 


INDEX 


385 


Faith,  nature  of,  159-162;  how 
it  saves,  162-163;  completed 
in  obedience,  163-164;  old 
and  new,  216. 

Farrar,  F.  W.,  quoted,  92. 

Fear,  as  a  root  of  religion,  94- 
95;  abatement  of,   130-132. 

Feelings,  defined,  39;  kinds  of, 
39-41;  pain  and  pleasure  tone 
of,  41;  uses  of,  44-46;  study 
of  literature  as  a  discipline 
of,  334. 

Finney,  Charles,  referred  to, 
169. 

Frazer,  Dr.  J.  G.,  quoted,  33; 
on  nature  of  religion,  87. 

Garman,  Prof.  Charles  E.,  on 
philosophy,  338. 

Geikie,  J.  Cunningham,  quoted, 
91. 

Geology,  value  to  the  minister, 
329.  ' 

Gestures,  325-326. 

Giving,  as  an  act  of  worship, 
247-248;  a  universal  fact  in 
religion,  248;  necessary  for 
the  support  of  the  gospel, 
248-249;  as  a  means  of  grace, 
249-251. 

God,  belief  in,  instinctive  and 
necessary,  89-93;  rooted  in 
our  constitution,  93-102;  per- 
sonality of,  101;  changed 
views  of  the  character  of, 
133-134;  attitude  towards  sin, 
141. 

Goethe,  quoted,  65,  68. 

Habits,  nature  of,  61-63;  of 
sin,  127-128;  value  of,  in  re- 
ligion, 266-267;  four  rules  on, 
267-273. 

HauMrton,  Philip  Gilbert, 
quoted,  272. 

Hatniltori,  Sir  William,  quoted, 
40. 

Harris,  Dr.  Rendal,  on  prayer, 
241. 

Harris,  Dr.  Samuel,  on  sin  as 
scUishncss,  110. 


Haydn,  referred  to,  245. 
Hebrew  people,  their   religious 

genius    and    inspiration,    23- 

24. 
Hedonism,  74-75. 
Heine,  Heinrich,  quoted.  111. 
Henley,  W.  E.,  quoted,  95,  131. 
Herbert,  George,  quoted,  231. 
Hovt,  Prof.  Arthur  S.,  quoted, 

324-325. 
Hugo,    Victor,    on    retribution, 

127;  on  beauty,  307;  referred 

to,  335. 
Humour,  in  the  pulpit,  310-311. 
Huxley,    Thomas,    quoted,    134; 

on    a   liljeral   education,   280; 

his   lecture   on   "  A   Piece  of 

Chalk,"  376. 

Illustrations,  their  nature  and 
qualities,  308-310;  philosophy 
of,  315,  341;  use  of,  in  teach- 
ing, 367-368. 

Imagination,  its  nature,  36-38; 
intensifies  temptation,  119; 
as  a  means  of  Christian  life 
in  making  truth  vivid,  263- 
264;  correcting  our  faults, 
264-265;  building  up  char- 
acter, 265-266;  use  in  preach- 
ing, 311-319;  creative,  312- 
315;  illustrative,  315-317; 
verbal,  317-319;  study  of  lit- 
erature as  a  discipline  of, 
334-335;  use  of,  in  teaching, 
366-367. 

Individuality,  in  the  soul,  65- 
68;  in  Christian  character, 
283-287;  in  teaching,  66-67, 
365. 

Instincts,  as  motives,  50-52;  re- 
ligion rooted  in,  89. 

Intclhct,  the,  as  faculty  of 
knowledge,  27-39;  as  root  of 
religion,  98-101. 

Intelligence,  contrasted  with 
knowledge,  39. 

James,  William,  hi«i  Talks  to 
Tcarhera  on  P$ycholo<jy.  19; 
hia   contribution   to    religious 


386 


INDEX 


psychology,  20;  on  the  value 
of  the  psychological  labora- 
tory, 24;  on  the  use  of  the 
feelings,  46;  on  nature  of  re- 
ligion, 88;  on  multiple  per- 
sonalities, 147-148 ;  quoted, 
175;  on  the  will  to  believe, 
176-178;  his  rules  on  habits, 
267-273;  on  philosophy,  338; 
his  books,  379. 

Jastrow,  Morris,  his  Study  of 
Relicjion,  379. 

Jesus,  his  use  of  illustrations, 
315-316;  a  master  in  the  art 
of  questioning,  364. 

Jowett,  his  Dialogues  of  Plato, 
quoted,  369. 

Justice,  an  absolute  virtue,  82. 

Kant,  his  "  categories,"  29 ;  on 
the  freedom  of  the  soul,  5Q\ 
his  Critique  of  Pure  Reason, 
340. 

Keats,  quoted,  318. 

King,  President  H.  C,  quoted, 
270;  his  Rational  Living,  381. 

Knowledge,  contrasted  with  in- 
telligence, 39;  its  relation  to 
literary  style,  335. 

Lamb,  Charles,  quoted,  284. 

Lesson  helps,  their  use  and  mis- 
use, 360-361. 

Life,  the  Christian,  a  growth, 
200;  depends  on  the  environ- 
ment in  the  home,  203-204; 
in  the  school,  204-205;  in  the 
community,  205-206;  feeds  on 
truth,  207-208,  213-215;  medi- 
tation as  a  means  of,  229- 
233;  truth  and  life,  233-236; 
prayer  as  means  of,  236-242; 
music  and  song,  243-247;  giv- 
ing, 247-251 ;  work  as  a  means 
of  growth  in,  260-263;  use  of 
the  imagination  in,  263-266; 
does  not  consist  in  outward 
forms,  273-274;  or  simply  in 
knowledge  about  Christ,  or 
moral  culture,  or  imitation  of 
Christ,    274-276;    consists    in 


Christ  in  us,  276-277;  disci- 
plined in  sorrow,  278-279;  in- 
dividuality in,  282-287;  the 
highest  form  of,  287-289. 

Lincoln,  quoted,  335. 

Literature,  value  of  the  study 
of,  to  the  minister,  333-337; 
as  a  discipline  in  thought, 
333-334;  in  feeling  and  im- 
agination, 334-335;  in  style, 
335-337. 

Lotze,  referred  to,  101. 

Love,  an  absolute  virtue,  82-83. 

Lowell,  quoted,  288. 

Luther,  quoted,  235;  referred 
to,  283,  346. 

Macaulay,  quoted,  318. 

Mackintosh,  D.  C,  his  Problem 
of  Knowledge,  46. 

Marquis,  President  John  A., 
quoted,  355-356. 

Martineau,  Dr.  James,  on  con- 
science, 76-78;  on  nature  of 
religion,  88. 

Mather,  Cotton,  quoted,  337. 

McCosh,  James,  referred  to 
215. 

McNeill,  John,  his  style  of  pul- 
pit delivery,  324. 

Meditation,  becoming  a  lost  art, 
137;  nature  of,  229-230; 
means  of  self-acquaintance, 
230-231;  of  the  mastery  of 
Hfe,  232-233. 

Memory,  35-36. 

Micou,  Prof.  R.  W.,  referred 
to,  100. 

Mill,  John  Stuart,  on  character, 
63;  referred  to,  144;  his  con- 
version, 145-146 ;  quoted, 
337. 

Milton,  referred  to,  348. 

Minister,  the,  his  spiritual  life, 
344-345;  his  need  of  broad 
culture,  345;  as  a  prophet, 
352-354. 

Monism,  deterministic,  21. 

Miiller,  Julius,  referred  to, 
106;  on  sin  as  selfishness,  111, 

Miiller,  Max,  quoted,  209. 


INDEX 


387 


Miinsterberg,  Prof.  Hugo,  his 
application  of  psychology  to 
industry,  19;  on  voluntary 
attention,  48-49;  on  the  na- 
ture of  evil,  108. 

Moody,  EhN'ight  L.,  his  imagina- 
tion, 313-314. 

Morley,  John,  on  nature  of  re- 
ligion, 87-88. 

Motives,  defined,  50;  kinds  of, 
50-54. 

Music,  language  of  feeling, 
243;  in  the  Bible,  243-244; 
the  pipe  organ,  244;  Chris- 
tian hymns,  244-245;  as 
means  of  worship,  245;  of 
Christian  fellowship,  245- 
246;  of  conversion,  246. 

Napoleon,  quoted,  335;  re- 
ferred to,  112,  346. 

Nature,  study  of,  enriches  the 
minister's  mind,  329;  advan- 
tages of  life  in  the  open, 
330-333. 

Newton,  referred  to,  213;  his 
use  of  imagination,  315. 

Obligation,  sense  of,  as  element 
of  conscience,  74;  as  root  of 
religion,  97. 

Omar,  Khayydm,  quoted,  135. 

Palmer,  Prof.  G.  H.,  referred 
to,  77. 

Pantheism,  109. 

Parkhurst,  Dr.  Charles  H.,  re- 
ferred to,  300. 

Patton,  Francis  L.,  his  lectures 
on  "  Christianity  and  the 
Modern  Man,"  215. 

Paul,  his  conversion,  152-153; 
his  self-surrender  to  Christ, 
277;  his  concentration  of  pur- 
pose, 350. 

Percepts,  27-31. 

Personalities,  multiple,  147-Ilft. 

Personality,  the  master  force  of 
life,  34()-347;  nntive  endow- 
ment   of,    347-348  J    develop- 


ment of,  348-349;  points  of 
efficient,  349-352. 

Philosophy,  its  object,  338-339; 
a  mental  discipline  for  the 
minister,  339-340;  use  of,  in 
preaching,  340-34^1.;  of  illus- 
trations, 341;  the  foundation 
of  theology,  342-343. 

Plato,  his  Republic,  340;  his 
Dialogue  "  Meno,"  363,  369. 

Pleasure  and  pain,  as  tone  of 
feelings,  41 ;  in  relation  to 
right  and  wTong,  74-75. 

Pragmatism,  98,  257,  293. 

Pratt,  James  Bissett,  his  Psy- 
chology of  Religious  Belief, 
380. 

Prayer,  nature  of,  236-237;  ob- 
je'ctive  reality  of,  237-238; 
subjective  conditions  of,  238- 
239;  reflex  influence  of, 
239-240;  fulfilled  through 
obedience,  240-242. 

Preaching,  reasoning,  not  rant- 
ing, 158;  penetrates  the  sub- 
consciousness, 167;  should  re- 
spect reason,  195-196;  should 
be  adapted  to  all  classes  of 
hearers,  202-203;  doctrinal, 
218-220;  its  object,  290;  use 
of  illustrations  in,  308-310; 
use  of  slang  and  humour  in, 
310-311;  use  of  imagination 
in,  311-319;  the  spirit  of, 
319-321 ;  manner  of  the 
preacher,  321-322;  use  of 
philosophy  in,  340-346;  power 
of  personality  in,  346-352;  the 
preacher  as  a  prophet,  352- 
354. 

Psychology,  defined,  17;  a  late 
science,  17;  practical  appli- 
cations of,  19-22;  materials 
for,  22-24;  methods  of,  24-25. 

Pope,  quoted,  41. 

Punishment,  why  inflicted,  126- 
127. 

Purity,  an  absolute  virtue,  8:2. 

Rashdall,  Dr.  Hastings,  re- 
ferred to,  77. 


&88 


INDEX 


Reasoning,  32. 

Regeneration,  200. 

Religion,  its  relation  to  moral- 
ity, 84-85;  origin  and  nature 
of,  86-89;  rooted  in  our  con- 
stitution, 89-102. 

Renan,  referred  to,  274. 

Repentance,  meaning  of,  154- 
156;  in  conversion,  158-159. 

Reverence,  an  absolute  virtue, 
83. 

Revival,  means  of  conversion, 
168;  nature  of,  168-169;  con- 
tagion of,  169;  the  Ken- 
tucky, 170-171 ;  excesses  and 
dangers  of,  170-173,  197. 

Robertson,  Frederick  W., 
quoted,  179. 

Right,  theories  of,  74-76;  con- 
formity to  standard  of  value, 
76-79;  Martineau's  definition 
of,  76-78. 

Ross,  Edward  A.,  referred  to, 
168;  on  the  Kentucky  re- 
vival, 170-171. 

Royce,  Josiah,  his  practical  ap- 
plication of  psychology,  19. 

Rubenstein,  quoted,  270. 

Ruskin,  quoted,  30,  276,  373; 
referred  to,  274,  334. 

Schleiermacher,  quoted,  85;  on 
nature  of  religion,  88,  95. 

Science,  the  methods  of,  24-25; 
value  of,  to  the  minister,  329. 

Scott,  Sir  Walter,  quoted,  373. 

Seeley,  J.  R.,  on  nature  of  re- 
ligion, 88. 

Selfishness,  as  essence  of  sin, 
109-111. 

Sensations,  their  nature,  39-40; 
as  inlets  of  temptation,  117- 
118. 

Senses,  the,  27-29. 

Sermon,  the,  text,  291-292; 
topic,  292-296;  plan,  296-298; 
introduction,  298-300 ;  the 
body  of,  300-301;  the  psy- 
chological order  of,  301;  the 
conclusion,  301-302;  style  of, 
303-308;  illustrations  in,  30&- 


310;  use  of  the  imagination 
in,  311-319;  the  spirit  of,  319- 
321;  delivery  of,  322-325; 
grows  out  of  the  minister's 
whole  life,  327-328. 

Shakespeare,  quoted,  37;  his 
imagination,  313;  referred  to, 
335,  348. 

Sin,  nature  of,  103-106;  the- 
ories of,  106-112;  a  state  of 
the  soul,  112-114;  original, 
114-115;  sense  of,  123-126; 
bondage  of,  127-128;  con- 
tagion of,  128-130;  is  the 
sense  of,  declining?  130-141; 
changed  views  of,  134-135. 

Smyth,  Newman,  on  relation  of 
morality  and  religion,  85. 

Slang,  in  the  pulpit,  310. 

Socialism,  deterministic,  134, 

Socrates,  his  method  of  ques- 
tioning, 363;  his  theory  of 
latent  knowledge,  363;  his 
method  of  teaching  the  slave 
boy,  369-371. 

Sorrow,  the  discipline  of,  278- 
279. 

Soul,  the,  our  knowledge  of, 
25;  its  fundamental  faculties, 
25-27;  the  subconscious,  68- 
70;  growth  of,  70-72. 

Spencer,  Herbert,  on  pains  and 
pleasures,  44;  on  origin  of  re- 
ligion, 87;  on  wonder  as  root 
of  religion,  95;  on  literary 
style,  304-305;  referred  to, 
322. 

Spurgeon,  his  humour,  311;  re- 
ferred to,  343. 

Stalker,  James,  his  Christian 
Psychology,  380. 

Starbuck,  Edwin  D.,  his  Psy- 
chology of  Religion,  20,  379; 
on  the  sense  of  sin,  123-124; 
on  the  age  of  conversion, 
180-184;  on  characteristics  of 
childhood  converts,  190;  on 
crises  in  conversion,  192- 
193. 

Steven,  George,  on  different 
types  of  conversion,  198;  his 


INDEX 


389 


Psychology  of  the  Christian 
Soul,  380-381. 

Strong,  Dr.  Augustus  H.,  re- 
ferred to,  106;  quoted,  108, 
110. 

Style,  literary,  qualities  of, 
lucidity,  303-306;  force,  306- 
30T;  beauty,  307-308;  litera- 
ture as  a  discipline  in,  335- 
337. 

Subconsciousness,  the,  nature 
of,  68-70;  in  conversion,  165- 
167. 

Suggestion,  taps  the  subcon- 
sciou.sness,  69;  of  evil,  127; 
works  by  indirection,  167;  in 
preaching,  169;  and  revival, 
169. 

Sumner,  Charles,  referred  to, 
320-321. 

Talmage,  Dr.  T.  De  Witt,  his 
sermon  introductions,  298-299. 

Taylor,  Jeremy,  referred  to, 
'136. 

Teaching,  touches  the  subcon- 
sciousness, 167;  should  be 
adapted  to  the  scholars,  202; 
the  best  way  of  learning, 
258-259 ;  defm'ite  aims  in,  356- 
357;  preparation  of  the  les- 
son, 357-361;  the  teacher  be- 
fore the  class,  361-363;  the 
art  of  questioning,  363-365; 
use  of  imagination  and  illus- 
tration in,  366-368;  getting 
the  scholars  to  work,  368- 
372;  the  teacher's  interest  in 
the  scholar,  372-375;  leading 
scholars  to  Christ,  375-377. 

Temperaments,  their  nature, 
42;  the  sanguine,  42-t3;  the 
phlegmatic,  43;  the  choleric, 
43;    thr  melancholic,  43. 

Tem|)tation,  may  l)egin  with 
doubt,  llJ-lKi;  enters 

til  rough  the  senses,  117-118; 
iiitrnsifu'd  by  associations, 
118-119;  how' to  resist,  119- 
120;  a  means  of  strength, 
278. 


Tennyson,    quoted,    17,    60,    72, 

92,  227-228,  229,  341,  350. 
Thomson,  James,  his  "  City  of 

Dreadful  Night,"  135. 
Thring,    Edward,   quoted,    356- 

357. 
Tolstoy,  his  conversion,  144-145. 
Truth,    nature    of,    81-82,    206- 

208;    an   absolute    virtue,   82; 

calls     for     supreme     loyalty, 

174;    a    sense    in    which    we 

make   it,    175-178;   James    on 

the  will    to   believe,    176-177; 

the    food   of  the    mind,   207; 

all    truth    religious,    213-214; 

progressive,    214-216;    should 

be  turned   into  life,  233-236; 

imagination    makes    it    vivid, 

263. 
Turner,   quoted,   30;   his   range 

of  interest,  373, 
Tylor,  E.  B.,  on  the  nature  of 

religion,  87. 

Utilitarianism,  75-76. 

Value,  scale  of,  as  standard  of 
right,  76-80;  sense  of,  as  root 
of  religion,  96-97. 

Vinci,  Leonardo  da,  his  '*  Last 
Supper,"  256. 

Walden,  Rev.  Treadwcll,  on  the 
meaning  of  metanoia,  154- 
156. 

Waterhouse,  E.  S.,  on  nature  of 
religion,  88. 

Watkinson,  Rev.  Dr.  W.  !>.,  his 
sermon  topics,  295;  his  illus- 
trations, 308. 

Webster,  Daniel,  referred  to, 
211;  his  style,  335. 

Wesley,  John,  quoted,  255,  260; 
refeVred    to,   283. 

Whitfield,  referred  to,  169, 
283. 

Whitman,   Wait,  quoted,    HI. 

Will,  the,  (l.tined,  47;  its  pri- 
mary form  in  attention,  47- 
48;  controlled  by  motives,  50* 


390 


INDEX 


55 ;  freedom  of,  55-61 ;  a  root 
of  religion,  101;  sovereignty 
of,  over  the  soul,  122-123; 
how    to    move,    165. 

Wilson,  Woodrow,  on  char- 
acter, 281. 

Wonder,  as  a  root  of  religion, 
95. 

Words,  suggest  different  mean- 
ings to  different  minds,  34, 
66;  the  psychology  of,  208- 
211. 


Wordsworth,  quoted,  84;  te- 
ferred  to,  146. 

Work,  Christian,  as  means  of 
our  own  life,  256-258;  for  the 
sake  of  others,  258-260;  the 
call  to  service,  260-263. 

Worship,  nature  and  necessity 
of,  236;  prayer,  236-242; 
music  and  song  as  a  means 
of,  243-247;  giving,  247-251; 
social  nature  of,  251-254;  the 
esthetic  element  in,  254-256. 


Printed  in  the  United  States  of  America 


OUESTIONS  OF  THE  FAITH 


JAMES  H.  SNOWDEN,  P.P. 

The  Psychology  of  Religion 

8vo,  cloth,  net  $1.50. 

Psychology  is  one  of  the  most  rapidly  advancing  of  modem 
sciences,  and  Dr.  Snowden's  book  will  find  a  ready  welcome. 
While  especially  adapted  for  the  use  of  ministers  and  teach- 
ers, it  is  not  in  any  sense  an  ultra-academic  work.  This  is 
evidenced  by  the  fact  that  the  material  forming  it  has  been 
delivered  not  only  as  a  successful  Summer  School  course,  but 
in  the  form  of  popular  lectures,  open  to  the  general  public. 

WILLIAM  HALLOCK  JOHNSON,  Ph. P.,  P.P. 

Prtfuitr  tf  Griek  and  Ntw  Ttstammt  Lit*raturt  in  Linctln  Univtrsity,  fa. 

The  Christian  Faith  under  Modem 
Searchlight 

The  L.  P.  Stone  Lectures,  Princeton.  Intro- 
duction by  Francis  L.  Patton,  D.D.    Cloth,  net  $1.25. 

The  faith  which  i»  to  survive  must  not  only  be  a  traditional 
but  an  intelligent  faith  which  has  its  roots  in  reason  and  ex- 
perience and  its  blossom  and  fruit  in  character  and  good 
works.  To  this  end,  the  author  examines  the  fundamentals 
of  the  Christian  belief  in  the  light  of  to-day  and  reaches  the 
conclusion  that  every  advance  in  knowledge  establishes  its 
•ovcrcign  claim  to  be  from  heaven  and  not  from  men. 

ANPREfT  W.   ARCHIE  ALP,    P.P. 

Author  »i  ''Thi  Biblt  Veriftd,"  "Tht  Trtnd  tftht  Cntturiti,"  rtt. 

The  Modem  Man  Facing  the  Old 
Problems 

i2Tno,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

A  thoughtful,  ably-conducted  Study  in  which  those  prob- 
lems of  human  life,  experience  and  destiny,  which,  in  one 
form  or  another,  seem  recurrent  in  every  age,  are  examined 
from  what  may  be  called  a  Biblical  viewpoint.  That  is  to  say, 
the  author  by  its  illuminating  rays,  endeavors  to  find  eluci- 
dation and  solution  for  the  difficulties,  which  in  more  or  less 
degree,   perplex  believer  and   unbeliever   alike. 

NOLAN    RICE    REST  gJI,»r  ./  " Th»  C»ntinn,t" 

Applied  Religion  for  Everyman 

l2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

Nolan  Rice  llcst  has  earned  a  well-deserved  reputation  In 
the  rcligiouH  press  of  America,  as  a  writer  of  virile,  trench- 
antly-phrased editorials.  The  selection  here  brought  together 
represent  his  l)est  efforts,  and  contains  an  experienced  edi- 
tor's suRRestions  for  the  ever-recurrent  problems  confronting 
Church  mrnil>ers  at  a  b-xly,  and  as  individiKil  Chrik  Mr. 

Be'it    wields   a    facile    pen,   and   a   su<lden   gleam   «■  "v,   a 

difficult  thought  set  in  a  perfect  phrsse,  or  an  old  lica  in- 
vested with  new  meaning  and  Rracc,  meets  one  at  every  turn 
of  the  pafc." — Th€  Ktcord  Htrald, 


PRAYER,  DEVOTIONAL,  Etc. 


/.    STUART  HO  LP  EN,    M.A.      Author  of^^XheLU,  of  Fuller  Pur- 

■     pose,"  ^'The  Price  of  Power."  etc. 

The  Confidence  of  Faith 

l2mo,  cloth,  net  750. 

A  choice  body  of  sermonic  material,  the  general  trend  and 
theme  of  which  is  the  necessity  that  has  arisen  in  these  later 
days,  for  a  steady,  deeply-rooted  confidence  in  things  that  are 
eternal.  The  troublous  days  through  which  the  world  is  now 
passing,  has  brought  perplexity  and  sorrow  to  many  loving 
hearts.  For  all  such,  as  well  as  for  believers  everywhere,  Mr. 
Holden's  new  book  breathes  a  message  of  solace  and  enheart- 
enment. 

W.    H.    GRIFFITH  THOMAS,  P.P.  WydijS'e  College 

—————— —^———'^— ——'^—^—  Toronto,  Canada 

Grace  and  Power 

Some  Aspects  of  the  Spiritual  Life.  Cloth,  net  $1.00. 

"A  thoughtful,  well  written  body  of  devotional  writing. 
The  ground  covered  is  that  of  the  possibilities  of  the  Chris- 
tian life,  of  the  provision  made  for  their  realization,  and  of 
the  protective  grace  flung  around  the  believer,  enabling  one 
to  hold  fast  to  his  ideals.  — Christian  Work. 

AUGUSTA  ALBERTSON 

Through  Gates  of  Pearl 

A  Vision  of  the  Heaven  Life.    Cloth,  net  $1.00. 


•<i 


*A  fountain  of  fresh  spiritual  strength.  It  is  a  book  big 
with  promise,  large  with  the  foundation  of  a  great  hope;  it 
appeals  to  the  reason  as  well  as  to  the  heart,  and  it  interprets 
Scripture  in  a  satisfying  way  accomplished  by  few  books  writ- 
ten by  lay-writers." — Book  News. 

J.    M.    CAMPBELL,    P.P.      Author  of"  Grow  old  Ahm  with  Me" 
——^——^—^——~——  "The  Heart  of  the  Gospel,"  etc. 

Prayer  in  Its  Present-Day  Aspects 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  75c. 

Here  is  a  book  written  to  meet  a  situation  tinparalled  in 
history,  to  restate  certain  aspects  of  an  eternal  truth  in  the 
light  of  the  conditions  and  demands  of  these  perilous  times. 
Prayer  as  related  to  the  conception  of  God,  the  conception  of 
man,  bodily  healing,  spiritual  force,  natural  phenomena  and 
war,  are  some  of  the  issues  dealt  with  by  Dr.  Campbell.  A 
timely  and  valuable  treatise  on  the  highest  function  of  the  soul. 

JAMES  G.  K.  McCLURE,  P.P. 

Intercessory  Prayer  a  ^'-^f^^^^^^l^^^ '>'- 

New  Bdition.    i2mo,  cloth,  net  50c. 

A  new  edition  of  this  helpful  work  of  glowing  faith  which 
shows  the  power  and  potency  of  prayer,  furnishing  examples 
of  Christian  experienpe  and  convictions.  "Above  all,  it  is 
wue,  practical,  useful  and  inspiring."— CArt.jtkz»  Work* 


SERMONS  AND  ADDRESSES 


/.     H.    JOfVETT,    D.D.  Fifth  Avn,u»  Prtshyurian  church 

■ Ntw    York 

The  Whole  Armour  of  God 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

"This  popular  preacher  is,  not  only  by  his  own  people,  but 
also  by  large  numbers  of  others,  considered  the  very  greatest 
preacher.  He  is  possessed  of  a  rare  and  perhaps  unequalled 
combination  of  the  very  Qualities  which  captivate.  His 
thoughts  are  always  expressed  in  the  simplest  possible  diction, 
so  that  their  crystalline  clearness  makes  them  at  once  appre- 
hended."— Christian  Evangelist, 

EDGAR   DE  fVITT  JONES  Auth.r  ,f  "Th»  inner  arcU» 

The  Wisdom  of  God's  Fools 

And  Other  Sermons.    i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

A  volume  of  discourses,  displaying  the  same  facility  for  the 
right  word  and  fitting  phrase  which  marked  the  author's  pre- 
vious work.  Mr.  Jones  preaches  sermons  that  read  well — a 
not  at  all  common  quality.  He  is  a  thinker  too;  and  brings 
to  his  thinking  a  lucidity  and  attractiveness  which  make  his 
presentation  of  great  truths  an  artistic,  as  well  as  an  inspiring 
achievement.  A  note  of  deep  spirituality  is  everywhere  mani- 
fest. 

FREDERICK   F.    SHANNON       Pastor  of  the  Riformed-Church-n- 
— — ^— — — — ^^— — — ^^-^  ihe-Hiiehts,  Brooilyn,  N.  Y. 

The  Enchanted  Universe 

And  Other  Sermons.    i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

Mr.  Shannon's  reputation  as  an  eloquent  and  forceful 
preacher  is  still  further  enhanced  by  his  new  volume  of  ser- 
mons. The  fervid,  glowing  character  of  the  popular  Brooklyn 
pastor's  appeals,  make  the  reading  of  his  latest  book,  not  only 
an  inspiring,  but  a  fascinating  exercise. 

GEORGE  jr.    TRUETT,  D.D.  Pastor  Ftrst  Baptist 

' •  Church,  Dallas,  lex. 

We  Would  See  Jesus  and  Other  Sermons 
Compiled  and  edited  by  J.  B.  CranfiU.     Net  $1.00. 

**One  of  the  greatest — many  would  say  the  greatest — of  all 
the  world's  preachers  to-day.  It  ranks  high  among  the  ex- 
tant lK»ok3  ot  sermons,  past  and  present,  and  deserves  a  place 
in  millions  of  homes." — Biblical  Recorder. 

BISHOP  CHARLES  EDlfARD  CHENEY 

A  Neglected  Power 

And  Other  Sermons,     umo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

"Thoroughly  evangelical  in  spirit,  refreshing  in  Biblical 
Wuth  and  abounding  in  helpful  ministrations  for  every  day 
life." — Evangelical  Messenger. 


BIBLE  STUDY 


EDWARD   AUGUSTUS  GEORGE 

The  Twelve  :  Apostolic  Types  of  Christian  M«n 
i2mo,  cloth,  net  $i.oo 

"Under  his  living  touch  the  apostles  seem  very  much  like 
the  men  we  know  and  their  problems  not  dissimilar  to  our 
own." — Congregationalist. 

PROF.   W.    G.    MOOREHEAD 
OUTLINE  STUDIES  in  the  NEW  TESTAMENT  SERIES 

The  CathoHc  Epistles  and  Revelation 

In  One  Volume.    New  Edition.     i2mo,  net  $1.20 

Containing  James,  I  and  II  Peter,  I,  II  and  III  John,  and 
Jude,  and  the  Book  of  Revelation. 

ALEXANDER    CRUDEN 

Complete  Concordance 

Large  8vo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

New  Unabridged  Edition,  with  the  Table  of  Proper  Names 
entirely  revised  and  mistranslations  in  the  meanings  cor- 
rected, many  suggestive  notes. 

WILLIAM  SMITH,  LL.D. 

A  Dictionary  of  the  Bible 

Its  Antiquities,  Biography,  Geography  and  Nat- 
ural History,  with  Numerous  Illustrations  and  Maps. 
A  New  Worker's  Edition.    776  pages.    Net  $1.00. 

NEW  THIN  PAPER  EDITION 

The  Boy  Scouts'  Twentieth  Century 

New  Testament 

Officially  authorized  by  the  Boy  Scouts*  of  Amer- 
ica.   New  Thin  Paper  Edition. 

181.  i6mo,  khaki  cloth,  net  85c. 

182.  i6mo,  ooze  leather,  khaki  color,  net  $1.50. 
Contains    an    introduction    by    the    Executive    Board,    tke 

Scouts'  Oath,  and  the  Scouts*  Law. 

HENRY  T.  SELL,  D.D.  (Editor)  Author  of 

'—————— ^-^—^——^—^^^  Sell's  Bible  Studits 

XX  Century  Story  of  the  Chri^ 

i2mo,  cloth,  in  press. 

From  the  text  of  The  Tvi'entieth  Century  New  Testament, 
Dr.  Sell  has  completed  a  Harmony  of  The  Gospels  which, 
while  studiously  avoiding  repetition  omits  no  important  word 
in  the  fourfold  record  of  the  earthly  life  and  teaching  of  our 
Lord.  He  has  done  his  work  well,  and  the  result  is  a  com- 
pilation specially  designed  and  adapted  for  the  use  of  the 
average  reader. 


ESSAYS,  STUDIES,  ADDRESSES 


PROF.  HUGH  BLACK 

The  New  World 

i6mo,  cloth,  net  $i.oo. 

"The  old  order  char.geth,  bringinpr  in  the  new."  To  a  re- 
riew  of  our  changing  world — religious,  scientific,  social — Hugh 
Black  brings  that  interpretative  skill  and  keen  insight  which 
distinguishes  all  his  writings  and  thinking.  Especially  docs  be 
face  the  problem  of  the  present-day  unsettlement  and  unrest 
in  religious  beliefs  with  sanity  and  courage,  furnishing  in  this. 
as  in  other  aspects  of  his  enquiry,  a  new  viewpoint  and  claxi- 
fied  outlook. 

S.  D.  GORDON 

Quiet  Talks  on  John's  Gospel 

As  Presented  in  the  Gospel  of  John.  Cloth,  net  75c. 

Mr.  Gordon  halts  his  reader  here  and  there,  at  some  pre- 
cious text,  some  outstanding  instance  of  God's  tenderness, 
much  as  a  traveller  lingers  for  refreshment  at  a  wayside 
spring,  and  bids  us  hearken  as  God's  wooing  note  is  heard 
pleading  for  consecrated  service.  An  enheartening  book,  and 
a  restful.  A  book  of  the  winning  Voice,  of  outstretched 
Hands. 

ROBERT  F.    HORTON,   P.P. 

The  Springs  of  Joy  and  Other  Addresses 

l2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

"Scholarly,  reverent,  penetrating,  human.  The  product  of 
a  mature  mind  and  of  a  genuine  and  sustained  religious  ex- 
perience. The  message  of  a  thinker  and  a  saint,  wbich  will 
be  found  to  be  very  helpful." — Christian  Intelligencer, 

BISHOP  WALTER   R.    LAMBUTH 

Winning  the  World  for  Chri^ 

A   Study  of   Dynamics.     Cole  Lectures   for   IQIS- 

I2mo,  cloth,  net  $1^25. 

Tbis  Lecture-Course  is  a  spirited  contribution  to  the  dy- 
namics of  Missions.  It  presents  a  study  of  the  sources  of  in- 
spiration and  power  in  the  lives  of  missionaries,  native  and 
foreign,  who  with  supreme  abandon  gave  themselves  utterly 
to  the  work  to  which  they  were  called. 

FREDERICK   F.  SHANNON,    P.P. 

The  New  Personality  and  Other  Sermons 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

Mr.  Shannon,  pastor  of  the  Reformed  Church  on  the 
fleights,  IJrookiyn,  is  possessed  of  lofty  ideals,  is  purpose- 
ful, more  than  ordinarily  eloquent  and  has  the  undoubted 
gifts  of  felicitous  and  epigrammatic  expression.  This  new  vol- 
ume by  the  popular  preacher  is  a  contributioD  of  distinct  valua 
to  current  sermonic  literature. 


SERMONS— LECTURES— ADDRESSES 


JAMES  L.  GORDON,    D.D, 

Airs  Love  Yet  All's  Law 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

"Discloses  the  secret  of  Dr.  Gordon's  eloquence — fresh, 
and  intimate  presentations  of  truth  which  always  keep  close 
to  reality.  Dr.  Gordon  also  seems  to  have  the  world's  litera- 
ture at  his  command,  A  few  of  the  titles  will  give  an  idea 
of  the  scope  of  his  preaching.  'The  Law  of -Truth:  The 
Science  of  Universal  Relationships';  'The  Law  of  Inspiration: 
The  Vitalizing  Power  of  Truth';  'The  Law  of  Vibration'; 
'The  Law  of  Beauty:  The  Spiritualizing  Power  of  Thought'; 
The  Soul'g  Guarantee  of  Immortality." — Christian  Work. 
BISHOP  hRANCIS  J.  McCONNELL         Cole  Lectures 

Personal  Christianity 

Instruments  and  Ends  in  the  Kingdom  of  God. 
i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.25. 

The  latest  volume  of  the  famous  "Cole  Lectures"  delivered 
at  Vanderbilt  University.  The  subjects  are:  I.  Ihe  Per- 
sonal in  Christianity.  II.  The  Instrumental  in  Christianity. 
III.  The  Mastery  of  World-Views.  IV.  The  Invigoration 
of  Morality.  V.  The  Control  of  Social  Advance.  VI. 
"Every  Kindred,  and   People,   and  Tongue." 

NEWELL  DWIGHT  HILLIS,  P.P. 

Lectures  and  Orations  by  Henry  Ward 
Beecher 

Collected  by  Newell  Dwight  Hillis,     i2mo,  net  $1.20. 

It  is  fitting  that  one  who  is  noted  for  the  grace,  finish  and 
eloquence  of  his  own  addresses  should  choose  those  of  hia 
predecessor  which  he  deems  worthy  to  be  preserved  in  a 
bound  volume  as  the  most  desirable,  the  most  characteristic 
and  the  most  dynamic  utterances  of  America's  greatest  pulpit 
orator. 

IV.  L.  JVATKINSON,  P.P. 

The  Moral  Paradoxes  of  St.  Paul 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

"These  sermons  are  marked,  even  to  greater  degree  than 
is  usual  with  their  talented  preacher,  by  clearness,  force  and 
illustrative  aptness.  He  penetrates  unerringly  to  the  heart 
of  Paul's  paradoxical  settings  forth  of  great  truths,  and  il- 
lumines them  with  pointed  comment  and  telling  illustration. 
The  sermons  while  thoroughly  practical  are  garbed  in  strik- 
ing and  eloquent  sentences,  terse,  nervous,  attention-com- 
pelling."— Christian  World. 

LEN  G.  BROUGHTONy  P.P. 

The  Prodigal  and  Others 

i2mo,  cloth,  net  $1.00. 

"The  discourses  are  vital,  bright,  interesting  and  helpful. 
It  makes  a  preacher  feel  like  preaching  once  more  on  this 
exhaustless  parable,  and  will  prove  helpful  to  all  young  people 
— and  older  ones,  too.  Dr.  Broughton  does  not  hesitate  to 
make  his  utterances  striking  and  entertaining  by  the  intro- 
duction of  numerous  appropriate  and  homely  stories  and  illus- 
trations.   He  reaches  the  heart." — Review  and  Expositor. 


Princeton   Theological  Semmary-Speer  Library 


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